Keeping The Balance
by OhJay
Summary: Post XIII-2, alternate ending. With the timeline fixed and things relatively peaceful, everyone goes on with their happy lives. That is until signs start appearing that things are not quite right as it seems... SnowxSerah, LightxHope, ZackxAerith
1. Prologue: Alive

_**Prologue: Alive**_

"Thank you..."

As soon as the words left her lips she felt the pain. She couldn't move or breath, everything hurt. She gasped and heard Noel call out her name, and beg her to snap out of it as he gently shook her, but she had already seen the vision.

Her eyesight had already begun to fade as Noel pulled her close into a tight embrace, as if it would keep her from dying. She closed her eyes for the last time as she let out her final breath, and died there in Noel's arms.

_Serah felt like she was floating on the water's surface, but felt heavy, and sluggish as if some unknown force was weighting her down. The pain was gone, but she felt tired and weak, and didn't want to open her eyes. Se heard faint distant voices, all telling her to relax and fall asleep. She felt lighter and stronger as they grew a bit louder, but then they all suddenly went silent and disappeared as quickly as they had come._

_The floating sensation had also stopped. She felt the soft ground below her, and a strong peaceful scent of flowers. A quiet set of footsteps approached, then she felt a gentle hand brush against her face. She groaned softly, the heavy sensation quickly returning as she strained to open her eyes. Everything was bright and out of focus, but she could make out a blurry face smiling down her._

_"Claire?" she asked weakly, wondering if it was all some kind of dream._

_The figure shook her head softly._

_"Then who-_

_"You don't belong here," She told Serah calmly. "Not yet."_

_Everything began to fade out into darkness, but Serah heard her say one last thing before everything disappeared completely:_

_"I will take your place."_

Serah gasped suddenly as she woke up in Noel's arms. The pain was gone, but she still felt heavy and weak from the pain the vision caused. Looking up at Noel's face, she saw that he seemed rather shocked, as did Hope and Mog. They all looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

"S-Serah?" Noel asked, still in shock.

"I'm ok." she assured him as she slowly sat up.

She still felt weak, but the pain had subsided.

"What happened?" she asked, only to be hugged tightly by Noel as a few tears ran down his cheeks.

"I thought you were dead..."

She couldn't believe her ears, but glancing over at Hope she could tell by his expression that he had thought the same. She remembered the dream she had, and what the mysterious woman had said to her. She realized that she probably had been indeed died like Noel said, but something had been done to bring her back. The future had changed.

"I'm alright now Noel." she said as hugged him back, trying to calm him.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he gently pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"Yes."

"But what did you see?" Hope asked.

"Was it bad?" Noel added.

Serah blinked, trying her best to remember what she had seen before she had collapsed, but her memory was blank. Sometimes she only remembered bits and pieces, or the whole thing was blurry, but this was the first time she had a vision and forgotten it entirely.

"I don't remember..." she said softly, glancing down at her feet.

"Nothing at all?" Noel asked.

She nodded.

"That's strange, kupo."

"Yeah..."

Could the memory of her vision be what was taken for her to come back?

"Serah!"

She glanced up immediately, recognizing the voice that called her name. She brightened up when she saw his face, and ran to him as he descended from the sky riding Shiva, with Lightning riding with him. She leapt into his arms the moment the cycle touched the ground, laughing with joy as he spun her around. Reunited at last, this time for good.

"I won't leave you ever again" Snow told her.

"Thank you," she said as she wiped a tear away.

She then turned to her sister, who was smiling proudly at her. She was no longer in her armor, but back in her old clothes. It was like she had never left.

"You're not going anywhere either right?" she asked, unable to bear it if she lost her sister again.

Lightning shook her head. She wasn't going anywhere, no matter what happened.

"Light..."

Hearing her name, she glanced up at Hope, who didn't know what else to say. She smiled at him, seeing how much more mature he was now since she had seen him last. He was no longer the scared confused teenager, but a strong handsome young man.

"You've really grown up Hope." she told him, causing him to blush.

"I...Uh...Yeah..." was all he could say turning away in embarrassment.

She chuckled softy, causing him to blush even more.

"Well it looks like we might have more than one wedding to plan soon." Snow joked, earning a death glare from Lightning.

"I-It's not like that!" Hope lied, making it worse.

Snow chuckled, then put a hand on Noel's shoulder.

"Thanks for keeping her safe for me."

"You better take care of her now." Noel told him.

"I will," he said with a smile. "Now what do you all say we head home?"

* * *

Despite how calm and peaceful everything seemed to them now, things were actually quite chaotic. Having the time line change over and over again had upset the balance of things, and Caius' death had made it even worse. The world was on the brink of being overflowed with chaos, and without the Goddess the lifestream could only post pone the inevitable. Gran Pulse was in grave peril, and no one even knew it.

_**Author's Notes**_

Not much of an exciting or long prologue, but still important if you couldn't guess. I also did not hand this to my normal beta reader **(****shippudenfanatic) **instead I had **PSPGamerGirl **graciously volunteer to help me with the plot and other things since I was extra paranoid about plot bunnies. This will also include some very lightly implied onesided NoelxSerah and NoelxYuel, as well as the other pairings listed in the summary (wasn't enough room) So enjoy ^_^


	2. I Protector

_**I Protector **_

Time seemed to pass quickly for Noel. Serah and Snow had finally gotten their long awaited wedding, and had settled back down in New Bodhum. Bhunivelze may have been completed safely, but there were handfuls of people that had chosen to remain living on Pulse in various towns that people had gotten used to settling in.

Noel, having no where else to go had gone with them, while the others had chosen to live on Bhunivelze. Hope was still running the Academy, while Lightning had returned to the Guardian Corps, but as Hope's personal body guard. Despite the now ironic difference in age, the two had grown close to one another once more, and developed a steady long term, but private relationship.

They hadn't heard much from Sazh or Dajh, but word had it they were doing just fine too.

Noel on the other hand, never felt like he belonged. He was used to the deserted barren world that he grew up in, a time that thankfully would never happen now due to he and Serah changing the future, and as much relief that brought him, he felt too much out of place in the strange new time that he had been forced into.

He felt homesick, and he missed his Yuel more than anything. She had been one of his few friends, and during the time they had spent together he had fallen in love with her. Serah was the same way. His heart ached every time he saw her and Snow together, even more than ever now that they were expecting a child. He was jealous, ever since Serah had mentioned him in the first place when they had first met. It got even worse when he met the guy, and found out that he was an arogant careless hothead. He had silently hoped that Serah would realize that Snow had abandoned her, and she would chose him over Snow, but that never happened.

He had tried to tell himself that as long as she was happy he could live with the way things were. He hid his feelings from everyone because of that, and when his heart ached the most he went out into the wild and did the one thing that made him feel closer to his home, and took his mind off of everything as well: Hunting.

Not for sport of course, that just seemed wrong and wasteful to him. There was plenty of food to go around in the village, but everyone always seemed happy when Noel went out and brought back a nice big bag full of fresh game to share.

It was during one of his hunting trips he first encountered it. He was satisfied with his catch, and was calmly heading back to the village near the end of the day when he heard the low growling coming from the bushes. He instantly froze and slowly reached for his weapons as a lone large gray wolf came out of it's hiding place and slowly made it's way towards him.

He cautiously took a few steps back, eyes darting around for more wolves. They tended to travel in packs after all, or maybe this one had gotten separated from the others and had smelled the meat he had just caught. Either way he was in trouble, for if he drew his weapons that would provoke him to attack, but running away on foot was futile.

_Where's a chocobo when you need one? _He thought.

As he quickly pondered over his options and glanced around for possible escape routes as well as more wolves, he failed to notice the presence behind him. But the wolf did, and let out a roar before leaping past Noel, and standing his ground in front of him. Confused and now alarmed Noel spun around, and saw the wolf growling at the thick dark chaos like substance that had been slowly approaching Noel when he had his back turned.

_What is that?_

He quickly drew his weapons, ready to defend or attack if necessary. But the darkness backed off, and faded away into the horizon. The wolf back down as well when it was satisfied when it was gone, and calmly sat in front of Noel. He blinked, not expecting that at all.

"You protected me..." he said, earning a bark in response. "Uh, well, thanks..." he said, not sure what else he could say to the strange gray blue eyed wolf.

He cautiously sheathed his weapons and turned his back away hoping that the wolf wouldn't suddenly decide to attack him now. He glanced behind him to see if it had run off, and saw that it was actually calmly following him like a lost puppy.

Blinking in surprise he came to a stop, and turned to face the wolf.

"No, you can't follow me, go home." he told it sternly, only to be stared at blankly.

Noel sighed, and wondered if maybe it wanted some kind of reward for protecting him.

"Is this what you want?" he asked as he waved his bag of game in front of him.

The wolf didn't react. Noel sighed, and continued walking back towards the village for a few more yards, then looked back to see that he was still being followed. He sighed as he stopped once more.

"Get lost!" he yelled at it.

He picked up the nearest thing that was lying near by on the ground, and threw it at it. It had turned out to be a long stick, and Noel had thrown it so hard that it actually went past it. Distracted, the wolf quickly turned and ran towards it to see what it was. Noel bolted for it hoping to lose track of it.

No such luck; it had caught up with him again a few minutes later with the stick in it's mouth. It ran in front of him, then dropped the stick to the ground and looked up at him proudly while his bushy tail wagged back and forth. Noel groaned and face palmed.

"You're like an overgrown puppy..." he muttered.

He was only a couple miles outside of New Bodhum now, and he didn't want the wolf to follow him into the village and attack someone, or worse: Come back with his pack and cause even more trouble. If something like that happened Noel would get blamed, and who knows what would happen after that.

Sighing, he sat down on the grass and decided to wait it out. Sooner or later it would get bored or tired of following him around, and leave. At least that's what he was hoping for, but no, that didn't work either. The wolf stayed beside him the whole time, not moving more than a few feet away from him.

_Come on..._ He thought as the sun began to sat and he grew both tired and hungry.

He was usually back by now. People were going to start worrying about him soon.

"There you are!"

Speak of the devil: It was Snow.

"Serah was getting worried about you so I came out here to-

He stopped when he saw the wolf calmly standing near by.

"He won't leave me alone." Noel explained annoyingly. "Came out of no where and protected me from some kind of monster, and has been following me ever since."

"I didn't know we had wolves around here..." he said as he cautiously approached it, and gently began petting it. "Seems harmless enough," he said.

"That's what's strange; wolves are predators."

"You're far away from home aren't you?" Snow asked, receiving a bark in response.

"What do you think we should do about him?" Noel asked.

"If he starts causing trouble once we get closer to the village patrol we'll fire a few warning shots, that should scare him off."

Noel nodded as he stood up, and followed Snow. The wolf followed as well, and while those on patrol were rather surprised about him, Snow told them only to fire if he started to seem vicious. He did not.

"Snow!" Serah exclaimed when he returned with the unexpected straggler.

"Hey don't look at me, he followed Noel." he told her.

"I tried to get rid of him, trust me." Noel assured her.

The cat puffed up and hissed at the sight of him, and swatted at his face before leaping into Serah's arms and hissing some more. The wolf barely even blinked.

"He's so calm, kupo." Mog said as he floated over to him to examine him.

"Well we can't keep him," Serah said as she tried to calm the cat in her arms by petting him.

"Wasn't planning to," said Noel.

"Well figure out what to do about him later." Snow promised.

But they didn't have to. The wolf came and left the village as he pleased, each time as calm as ever and never caused any trouble for anyone. The villagers soon began to relax about his frequent presence, but also kept a close eye on him whenever he was around the children. They didn't need to though, for he let them all pet and play with him as long they were gentle, and even helped with patrol at night. He warned them whenever a monster was near, and usually scared it off when it got to close to the village. Noel also found out he was a good companion on his little hunting trips. New Bodhum had gained a brave protector, and a good friend.

"Maybe we should name him." Snow suggested one night as he kindly gave him some scrapes of food.

"He's not our pet Snow." Noel pointed out.

"I know," he told him. "I'm just sayin' it would be a bit better if we had a name to call him by, afterall he's done a lot for us."

"He's got a point Noel." Serah said as she finished cleaning up the table.

_His name is Zack._

"Serah?" Noel asked a bit concerned seeing that she zoned out for a few moments.

"I was just thinking, that's all." she lied.

Ever since her "death" she had occasionally heard whispers of voices in her head. She had never been able to make anything out in them, therefore she ignored them and hoped that she wasn't going crazy. That was until now of course. The voice had spoken louder and clearer to her than all the others, and she recognized it as the one belonging to the woman in the dream she had. She pushed her thoughts aside, deciding to deal with it all later. After all she hadn't told anyone about the voices.

"How about Zack?" she suggested.

He instantly let out a happy bark and wagged his tale, as if he was saying "Yes! That's it!".

"Sounds like he likes it," said Snow.

"Zack it is then," Noel said happily.

_**Author's Notes**_

Yay for Zack ^_^ He'll show up in his human form later so don't worry about that. I was also going to update tomorrow, but I've gotten a bit impatient for some reason -_-

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	3. II Illness

_**II Illness**_

Lightning visited often, but it was rare when they actually expected her. As usual work took up most of her time, but since Serah was expecting, she had promised to visit every couple of weeks to check up on her and see how she was doing.

A few of the villagers greeted her as she entered the village calmly, smiling as she approached Serah's house. The door was propped open to let in the nice ocean breeze, but she knocked anyway as she stepped inside.

"Serah?" she called.

It was then when she saw Zack peacefully lying in the middle of the living room floor, and she reached for her gunblade.

"It's ok Claire." she told her sister as she walked into the room before giving her a hug.

Lightning relaxed once she saw her little sister was alright and hugged her back, but kept her eyes on the strange wolf.

"Mind explaining this one?" she asked.

"He followed Noel home one day a couple weeks ago," Snow said as he entered the room. "How ya' doing sis'?" he asked opening his arms for a hug, but only getting a glare in return.

She may have approved of their marriage and trusted Snow, but she still didn't like his nickname for her.

"Go on," she said, getting back to the current topic, setting her stuff down and folding her arms.

Snow shrugged. "And he just sort of hangs around for a bit. He seems to watch over us and the village, then leaves unexpectedly for a few days only to show back up again."

"We think he might have a mate or family out there somewhere, and he's never hurt anyone."

"Just one big overgrown puppy."

Lightning sighed, accepting their story, and turned her attention back to Serah. She seemed just as healthy as the last time she saw her, but her belly had grown much more than she expected. She was only four months along, had she gained that much weight already?

"We're expecting twins!" Serah exclaimed happily, answering Lightning's questions.

She blinked, trying to wrap her mind around it.

"Twins?" she asked.

"Two beautiful little girls," Snow said as he gently wrapped his arm around his wife. "I'd say that's a good start to our big happy family."

"We're thinking about naming one after you." Serah told her.

"You don't have to." she told them.

The thought of a bunch of little annoying Snows running around was very unsettling, and she hoped that they both took after her mother instead. Either way she knew she would probably be called "Auntie Light." and have a bunch of kids clinging to her whenever she came to visit. Not something she was looking forward too, but she reminded herself that as long as Serah was happy and their kids grew up strong and healthy that was all that really mattered.

"How long are you staying?" Serah asked noticing that she had only brought a duffel bag of stuff.

"Just for the weekend." she told them. "Hope has some important research going on right now and-"

She was cut off by Serah's gasp, and saw that she was looking down at the ring on her finger.

"Claire!" she exclaimed happily, nearly grabbing her hand to get a better look at it.

There was indeed a silver engagement ring on her finger. There was no "big rock" in the middle, but rather a bunch of tiny little diamonds in the shape of a lightning bolt. Snow whistled at the sight of it.

"So the great Lightning's gonna be Misses Esthiem?" he asked.

"Yes but it's going to be a long engagement." she told them.

"When did this happen?" Serah asked.

"Only a couple days ago."

Serah let out a short squeal of happiness, and hugged her sister once more.

"I'm so happy for you Claire!"

Lightning smiled as she returned another hug, but kept her real emotions hidden deep inside. There was no way she could bear to tell either of them the truth.

* * *

The sudden wave of pain awoke Lightning that night. Her fingers clenched the sheets as she bit back a scream, and quickly but quietly made her way to the bathroom. She closed the door without a sound, then flipped on the light and yanked off her black arm sleeve to see what the damage was this time. She could see the dark liquid slowly seeping through the thin layers of bandages, so she tore them off at once and waited for the bleeding to stop over the sink.

Her arm trembled uncontrollably as the pain throbbed inside her, almost making her pass out. This was the real reason she had come to see Serah, and why Hope had proposed to her so soon: She was dying.

* * *

_"You should get some sleep Hope." Lightning told him._

_The Academy had found yet another Oracle Drive out in the field, and had stayed for a period of time to study it__. They had confirmed that once again the images recorded were thousands of years old, and appeared to be even older than the ones in the ones in the previous Oracle Drive, but this time the they were different. _

_Hope had partially expected something like what he had seen last time; something from their previous journey, something solid in the time line that Yuel had already for told happening long ago in the past. Instead he saw unfamiliar images, that disturbed him and made him worry._

_A meteorite crashing into the country side, creating a huge creator in the earth and instantly killing any life near it, then a larger much bigger meteor appearing in the sky, slowly looming closer to the planet each day, until it was almost close enough to crash into the ground and destroy the entire planet. In the next images he caught a glimpse of a metal meteor monument, suggesting that the meteor had actually not caused global destruction. However before he could relax the last few images were of a plague that infested the mysterious city. People on the streets could be seen lying in pain, or bleeding large amounts of a thick black pus before dying. Those who walked by paid little or no attention to them, suggesting that it was a common sight. _

_"Hope," Lightning said in a slightly more stern tone. "It'll still be here to look at tomorrow."_

_Hope sighed as he glanced down at his watch, seeing that it was nearly three in the morning. All of the other academy members had retired to their tents, and the few soldiers patrolling the perimeter for monsters were about to change shifts. He let out a yawn, making Lightning smirk and prove that she was right._

_"Alright you win..." he told her as he shut off the Oracle Drive and began walking back to their tent._

_Once inside he slowly undid his belt and set it neatly aside, then shrugged off his jacket and hung it over the chair, before sliding out of his boots and pants, and putting them away neatly as well. It was rather humid, so he just slid on a night shirt before crawling into his sleeping bag next to Lightning._

_She on the other hand, had just taken off her boots and jacket, and kept her gunblade within an arm's reach. She was still a soldier, and liked to be prepared for battle at a moment's notice. Hope didn't mind though, she got to be close to him and that's what mattered. _

_He gently wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and pulled her closer to him, chuckling as he remembered the first couple times he had done this when she was already asleep. Her soldier instincts had kicked in, and he had gotten elbowed in the jaw or flipped to the ground. These days though she had gotten used to it, and relaxed when she felt his warmth around her. She felt cold without it._

_"Goodnight my Light," he said softly before chuckling at his rhyming, making Lightning roll her eyes. _

_They had both fallen asleep quickly, but the shouts and gunfire woke Lightning up a few hours later. Her eyes snapped open at once at the sudden noise, and was leaped into action. She tore herself from Hope's arms as she grabbed her gunblade and slipped into her boots, then ran out of the tent to see what was going on. _

_"Light?" Hope asked as he slowly became aware of what was going on. _

_Deciding to help, he quickly yanked on his pants and shoes, and followed after her with his boomerang in hand. Thing's weren't as chaotic as they sounded. The soldiers on patrol had taken immediate action: Half of them led the away from the danger to safety, while the rest tried to dispose of the threat._

_"What is that?" Hope asked once he caught up to Lightning._

_Thick black streams of a dark matter had surrounded the camp. Lightning had stiffened remembering the chaos matter that had pulled her into Valhalla, but while it was similar to the matter now was not the same thing. However the moment it noticed Lightning's and Hope's presence it shot towards them. The soldier's fired at it, but it had no effect._

_Lightning shoved Hope out of the way as it grew closer, and raised her gunblade to attack. She slashed at it with all her might, but it was like slicing through air. She didn't have enough time to defend afterwords, and was knocked to the ground by the matter. She felt her weapon being knocked away, and Hope calling out her name, but all she saw was the darkness around her. She felt pain where it struck her down, but all she saw was darkness. Sitting up, she grasped for her gunblade, but it was to far out of her reach. _

_It was then when the tiny green streams of light began to shoot out of the ground around her, and shoved the darkness away. The green light then to disappeared, and Hope was at her side in a heartbeat. _

_"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. "You're not hurt are you?"_

_"I'm fine." she told him as she stood up and dusted herself off. Her left arm still throbbed from the pain, but it didn't seem to be injured so she shrugged it off._

* * *

_Deeming the area unsafe, they all packed up and returned to Bhunivelze, but still continued to study the new oracle drive. The pain Lightning felt still hadn't faded after a couple days, but she noticed that a big purple bruise had appeared, so she still ignored it and patiently waited for it to heal. _

_But it didn't. Her pain slowly intensified, and the bruise only grew worse. It was then when she started to worry, but still kept it to herself. _

_"Are you sure you're ok Light?" Hope asked one night. _

_It wasn't completely obvious that something was wrong with her, but he had noticed that she didn't put much strain on her left arm, and whenever he hugged her she stiffened as if any pressure on that arm caused her pain. _

_"You're not injured are you?"_

_"Hope I told you I'm perfectly-"_

_That's when the attack hit her. A wave of pain suddenly shot up through her arm without warning, causing her to gasp and grab it in pain. Her arm began to tremble, then bleed thick black pus that oozed through her sleeve and onto the bed sheets. The pain made her feel dizzy and light headed. She heard Hope call out to her as her vision began to blur, and faintly felt his arms around her as everything slowly faded into black._

* * *

_She woke up in the hospital a few hours later, with Hope waiting patiently for her to wake up by her bed side. His face brightened up immediately when he saw that she was awake, and almost knocked the stool over as he stood up._

_"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he demanded._

_"I didn't know it was this bad Hope." she told him as she slowly sat up._

_She had a headache, but most of her pain had subsided. She noticed there were now bandages on her arm, but seeing that they weren't bleed though at all they were either fresh, or the bleeding had stopped. _

_"I guess the oracle drive showed the future after all..." Hope muttered._

_"What did the doctor say?" she asked, wanting to know what exactly was wrong with her._

_Hope went silent, and lowered his gaze._

_"What did he say Hope?" she asked again sternly._

_"I want you to get a second opinion Light."_

_She soon found out why, for it was not good news. The doctor had taken blood samples and ran as many tests they could, but even then they didn't know what exactly was wrong. They told her that something strange and foreign had entered her body at some point, and her immune system was trying to get rid of it, resulting in the bleeding. However, soon it would over exert itself, and she would inevitably die. Not wanting to believe it herself, she went and got a second opinion like Hope said, then a third, and fourth. They all told her the same thing. _

_Reality set in afterwords, and she slowly began to accept it. She was a soldier, and had always thought that she would die in battle, not from an unknown disease. Compared to the latter it sounded rather pathetic._

_"There might be a cure out there we don't know about yet..." Hope told her, but they both knew it was wishful thinking. _

_"I want this to stay between us Hope." she told him._

_She could picture the look of despair on Serah's face if she found out, and the many tears that would flow after. She couldn't bear that. _

_"You're just going to give up?" _

_"Of course not!" she snapped, making him flinch. "You know I won't go down fighting Hope."_

_Hope sighed, then scratched his head nervously. _

_"What is it Hope?" she asked, knowing that he was keeping something from her._

_"Nothing!" he said quickly, raising his hands in defense._

_She narrowed her eyes at him, making him chuckle nervously and begin to sweat._

_"Hope," she began as she took a step towards him. "What is it?"_

_"Nothing," he said again, taking a step backwards for everyone she took towards him._

_"Tell me."_

_"I said it's nothing!"_

_"You're a horrible liar and you know it."_

_"It's really nothing!"_

_"Spill it!"_

_"No!"_

_His back bumped into the wall, and he realized he was trapped. Lightning stood up on her tip toes and looked him in the eyes, as if she could see the truth right through him. He caved in._

_"Iwantyoutomarryme!" he blurted._

_Realizing what he had just said, he turned bright red and quickly covered his mouth. Lightning just blinked at him._

_"What?"_

_"Um...Yeah..." he said nervously not sure what else to say. "I was going to wait a while to ask you but..."_

_Lightning knew some couples got married when tragedy struck, fearing death was near, but she never understood it. In their case, how would Hope cope when she was gone? There was no telling when she would finally give out, but she didn't plan on settling down and starting a family before then. Nothing even close to that had ever occurred to her. _

_"I'll marry you when I beat this." she told him._

_Hope blinked in surprise._

_"You really mean it?" _

_"Well you could've asked me a lot better..." she told him making him sigh and face palm._

_"Do I get a do over?" he asked._

_She nodded with an amused smile on her face. He coughed, composing himself, then took a deep breath before getting down on one knee. He pulled a small square dark velvet box out of his pocket, and held it out to her. _

_"Lightning Farron," he began happily. "Would you do the honor of being my bride?"_

_"Yes Hope." she said smiling._

* * *

Lightning sighed at the memory as she gazed down at the ring on her finger.

_I'll fight this for you Hope... _She thought.

_**Author's Notes**_

I love my HopexLight fluff ^_^ It should be pretty obvious what she has -_- Man she really pretty much IS a female version of Cloud...And no he will not be appearing in this, sorry if that disappoints anyone. I'm also updating early again because

A: school's out, I has no internets at home and don't know when I can be on next since I'm doing some serious job hunting this week

and

B:...I'm running a panel about bad fanfics at OMG Con in a couple weeks, and I have a feeling that going out and actually finding and reading that shit is going to fry my brain for a bit _


	4. III Warnings

_**III Warnings**_

Lightning's phone rang in the morning, waking her up. The pain had kept her up most of the night, and she was hoping that she would be able to sleep in for a while to make up for it. She groaned as she reached for it, at least hoping that it was either someone she could ignore, or something that wouldn't make her get up just yet. She may have been a soldier, but even then she still needed to catch up on her sleep.

"Hello?" she answered, slowly waking up.

"It's me." Hope said. "There's...There's something you should know."

* * *

"Are you ok Lightning?" Serah asked during breakfast. "You seem kinda spacious..."

"Just a little tired." she lied as she slowly ate the blueberry pancakes Serah had made everyone, her mind elsewhere.

Serah didn't buy it, and bit her lip. She didn't want to pry, but she was worried all the same. Noel noticed it too, but decided to change the subject.

"So has anyone notice the increase in monsters lately?" he asked.

That caught Lightning's attention.

"I haven't heard anything about it."

"It's just something I've been noticing lately while out hunting." Noel told her.

"Yeah I heard the same thing from patrol too, except Zack here chases most of 'em off," Snow said as he gave Zack a nice pat.

Serah nodded with a smile.

"He's such a good protector."

Lightning narrowed her eyes at the wolf, still unconvinced.

"If he is protecting you, then why does he leave as he pleases?" she asked.

"Maybe he has a family of his own to look after." Serah suggested.

"That would make sense." Snow added.

_Wolves aren't even supposed to live around here. _Lightning thought.

The whole thing didn't make sense to her, and didn't seem right. Something was going on that just seemed wrong...

Sighing, she finished the last few bites of her breakfast, then offered to do the dishes. Noel told her that he would help. Serah then left to teach her students, while Snow decided to do some chores (before Serah nagged him about it) and take a nap.

"So Zack followed you home..." Lightningsaid as she handed him a plate to dry while she tried to piece the whole thing together.

"Yeah, but he kind of saved me first..." Noel told her.

"From what?" she asked, knowing that Noel could handle himself more than well against pretty much any monster.

"I don't really know what it was." he admitted. "It was like this dark matter that just came out of no where, but when Zack stood up to it, it just went away..."

He noticed that Lightning had paled and stiffened, and was staring at him too.

"Have you seen it before?" he asked.

She nodded, then went back to washing the dishes.

"If you see it again Noel, run." she told him.

"But what is it?" he asked.

She shook her head. No one knew...

* * *

"You do realize I think you're crazy for this right?" Sazh told Hope as he landed the airship. "Coming out here to a dangerous area is one thing, but not telling Lightning is another. Man if she finds out..."

"She won't find out Sazh." Hope assured him.

"Well if she does you're in for at least an ear full."

Hope gulped, knowing that Sazh was indeed right, but pushed those thoughts away. Part of him just knew there was something important in the area where they had found the oracle drive, the area where Lightning was attacked. It kept nagging him in his mind, telling him to go back. He knew Lightning wouldn't agree to it, so while she was away in New Bodhum he called up Sazh and politely asked for a favor.

"So what is it that we're looking for anyway?" Sazh asked as they both stepped out.

"I'm actually not really sure..." Hope admitted, causing Sazh to sigh and face palm.

"So what we just wonder around here aimlessly and hope we don't get attacked?"

"I just have this gut feeling that I should be here right now ok?" Hope told him.

"Whatever..." Sazh said after another sigh.

The area looked just like it did the last time he was there. There were indistinguishable ruins all around, suggesting that at one point it had been a large city that just fell into ruin over time, and wildlife had just taken over. Plants and greenery had over grown most of the land, but there wasn't a single monster in sight.

Lightning and the other soldier's had commented it on it when they were here last time, saying that it was definitely unusual for there to be no monsters at all, but at the same time a bit relaxing. Of course even then they still didn't let their guard down.

_"Hope..."_

"Who's there?"

Hope spun around at once, armed with his boomerang, and startling Sazh.

"You seriously need a new weapon kid..."

"Didn't you hear her?"

It was a woman's voice that called his name, so it couldn't have been Sazh.

"Hear who?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"...Never mind" Hope told him, putting his boomerang away.

_Just must be hearing things..._ He thought.

But a moment later he heard it again; the soft voice calling his name. As he walked around, it got increasingly louder, as if whoever was calling him was also leading him towards them. Sazh followed behind quietly.

It wasn't long before they saw her: A young woman in a pink dress, with honey brown hair in a twisted braid down her back that was tied with a faded pink ribbon. She sat quietly in the meadow tending to the wild flowers that grew, but looked up at them as they approached and smiled.

"You came," she said.

"What's a girl like you doing out here?" Sazh asked as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"Were you the one that called me here?" Hope asked.

"Called you?" Sazh asked, eyebrows raised.

She nodded.

"You have questions that are bothering you, and no one has been able to answer them."

Hope blinked. There could only be one thing that she was talking about: The oracle drive.

"Are you a Seeress?" he asked.

By the point, Sazh was completely lost, so he decided to keep his mouth shut and ask questions later.

"All I can tell you is this: It happened long ago, and now history is trying to repeat itself..."

Hope nodded, only vaguely understanding what she meant, and filling his head with more questions.

"But who are you?" he asked.

She didn't answer him. Instead she picked up her flower basket and slowly walked further down the meadow, motioning for Hope to follow. He glanced back at Sazh, who just shrugged and told him he would wait back by the airship. Nodding again, he followed the mysterious woman in silence until she stopped where a large patch of the ground was barren of any flowers or grass.

Setting her basket down, she knelt down and clasped her hands in prayer as she closed her eyes. Hope raised an eyebrow and wanted to ask what this was all about, but he noticed that she seemed deep in concentration so he kept his mouth shut.

A few moments later he noticed that water had slowly begun to spring out of the ground. He was about to move closer to get a better look when suddenly it burst out of the earth in a geyser like form. He flinched, not expecting it, and blinked as some of it rained down on to him until it calmly settled into a small round pool.

"It will cure her." she said as she stood up and gently dusted herself off. "And anyone else that gets infected by the stigma." she added.

He blinked again in shock, glancing back and forth from the new pool of water, and her. Trusting her words, he quickly took out the small water bottle out of his pouch and quickly dumped its contents into the ground before filling it up from the pool. If it really did as it said she would, then he wouldn't have to see Lightning suffer any longer, she would live.

Sealing it up tight and putting the bottle back away safely, he turned to her determined to get some answers to his questions.

"Could you please explain to me what's going on? What this is all about?" he asked kindly.

She bit her lip, and glanced around as if she was expecting something to come out of no where and attack them both.

"Please?" he asked. "I need answers..."

She sighed, then slowly shook her head.

"I don't think I should, not yet..."

"What do you mean 'not yet'?" he asked. "You're not making a lot of sense here." he told her, getting frustrated. "Just who are you anyway?"

He reached out and grabbed her hand, then flinched at the touch and pulled away immediately. She didn't feel cold, but at the same time she didn't feel warm either. He had touched her, but it was almost like touching air. No warmth, no feeling, but yet still solid.

"The oracle drive documented the long forgotten past," she said. "A terrible past that can not happen again Hope, please try to prevent it." she pleaded.

"If you could just tell me what's going on so I can understand it then-"

"I'm sorry but there's not time for that right now." she apologized.

"I'm not going anywhere." he told her sternly as he folded his arms, determined to pester her for more specific answers.

She took a step back, and for a moment he thought she was going to turn and run from him, but then she gasped in pain fell her her knees. Alarmed, he stepped forward and caught her before she fell to the ground. He immediately saw the growing stain of red on her dress as if she had been stabbed from behind, and was so distracted and highly alarmed by it he didn't notice Etro's gate appear briefly in her eyes.

Tightly gripping his hand to get his attention, she whispered one word before closing her eyes and breathing her last: "Run." Her hand slipped away from him, then she quickly dissolved into tiny green streams of light that seemed to evaporate into the sky.

He blinked in confusion as he stood up, but kept his eyes on his hands. She had been in his arms just a moment ago...Had he really seen that?

_What the heck is going on?_

Remembering her last word to him, he quickly snapped out of it and glanced behind him. Sure enough the dark matter from before was approaching him at a fast pace. Letting out a curse he made a mad dash back towards the airship. He yanked out his communicator as he ran and quickly warned Sazh, not looking back for a second.

He picked up speed once the airship was in sight, all fired up and ready to take off into the air the moment Hope was safe inside. Quickly leaping inside, he shut the air lock door, then leaned against the walls as he tried to catch his breath.

"Where's the girl?" Sazh asked worriedly.

Hope shook his head.

"She disappeared," he said in between breaths.

He quickly felt for the water bottle in his pouch, sighing from relief that it was still there and intact. He didn't understand half of what she had told him, but he hoped she was right about it curing Lightning.

* * *

"You're sure?" Hope asked over the phone.

"Yeah Noel descried what he encountered perfectly."

She heard Hope sigh, and she could tell that he was getting even more worried. The matter had appeared at a small village on Pulse that had only begun to thrive, and wiped it out entirely. It blew through and infected everyone living with the stigma. They only lasted a couple days, long before the Academy even found out about it.

"Has the Academy found anything about it yet?" she asked.

She knew it was pretty much impossible for them to do any research about it, after all it appeared at random, no one could go near it without getting injured, and weapons had no effect on it.

"We found a cure for the stigma Light." he told her.

She blinked. He couldn't be serious...Could he?

"You serious?"

"Well it hasn't been tested yet..."

She knew what he was getting at.

"We then I guess we find out if it works when I get back tomorrow."

She could almost picture the smile on Hope's face.

"Just be careful until then ok Light?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm not gonna roll over and die in twenty four hours Hope."

"You better not." he half joked.

"Goodnight Hope."

"Night Light."

She sighed as she hung up, then she closed her phone and set it on the end table beside the bed. It was then when she noticed the small folded piece of paper on it, and raised an eyebrow. It hadn't been there in the morning, she was sure of it. Curious, she picked it up and unfolded it to read a neat handwritten note:

_Stay by Serah's side and protect her, otherwise she's going to die. _

_**Author's Notes**_

DUN DUN DUNNNNN! And Aerith and Sazh makes an appearance! Whoo!...You guys are still reading right?...RIGHT?

l

l

l

Right?...Please?

l

V


	5. IV Second Chance

_**IV Second Chance **_

The note haunted Lightning through out the night. There were only two people that could've written it that: Snow, and Noel. She couldn't see Snow writing it though, he was the type that would keep danger in secret and protect everyone alone. Noel on the other hand would let her know in a heart beat if something was wrong with Serah that would put her in danger.

She already knew about the incident on the airship when Serah supposedly died for a few minutes, then awoke to be completely fine. It had to be something related to that, she was sure of it. Why Noel didn't bother to talk to her about it in person she didn't know, but she was going to talk to him first thing in the morning.

* * *

"Morning sleepy head." Serah greeted Lightning cheerfully when she finally got up.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was almost noon and groaned. So much for first thing in the morning...

"Snow's snoring keep you up all night?" she joked.

"Actually yes." Lightning said rather annoyed.

She had gotten up and shut the door when she had first heard his loud obnoxious snoring across the hall, but even then it had kept her up. After a while she had half a mind to storm into their room and shove a pillow over his face to get him to shut up, but had been too damn tired to get up again.

"How in the world do you sleep?" she asked.

Serah shrugged.

"You get used to it."

Lightning sighed, then heard a sudden loud snore coming from the main bedroom. Apparently Snow wasn't up yet.

"Is Noel around?" she asked.

"I think he went out hunting again..." Serah told her.

Lightning groaned again in annoyance. It looked like she wasn't going to get to talk to Noel for a while now...

"Is there something on your mind Claire?" she asked a bit concerned.

"Yeah," she admitted, deciding it would be best to talk to her. "You," she said seriously, causing her sister to blink in confusion. "Have you been feeling alright lately?" she asked. "Nothing out of the ordinary?"

Serah shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said honestly. "Just weird cravings that's all." she added glancing down at her bowl of pickles and jello.

"No visions?" Lightning asked, her tone dead serious.

"Nothing since-"

"You died." Lightning finished, causing Serah's eyes to widen.

"You know about that?" she asked.

"Hope told me."

Or rather, she pressured him until he finally caved and spilled it. He couldn't hide anything from her if he wanted to.

"Does Snow know about that?" she asked glancing back at the bedroom.

Serah shook her head.

"I don't know how he'd react if he knew what happened back there..."

"If you really are 'fine' then there's nothing to worry about and he should know." she challenged.

"I am fine!"she shouted.

"That's what you thought before Serah." Lightning pointed out calmly.

Serah lowered her gaze, knowing she was right.

"I just want to make sure there haven't been any warning signs or something," she said as she put her hand on her younger sister's shoulder.

"I've been hearing voices since then..." Serah slowly admitted, causing Lightning to blink.

"What kind of voices?" Lightning asked, hoping that Serah wasn't losing her mind.

"Just little whispers in my head, a whole bunch of them."

"Can you understand them?"

She shook her head.

"It's like being in a crowd where everyone's talking," she explained "but they're all so quiet, like they're really far away..."

"Anything else about them?"

"Lately some of them seem to sound angry, and the rest are trying to reason with them. Like they're all arguing about something."

"You've never been able to make anything out?"

"No..." she said, forgetting about where Zack's name had come from. "You don't think I'm going crazy do you?" she asked as she glanced up at her sister for support.

Lightning shook her head, and gently hugged her.

"You're not crazy Serah."

"Crazy for what?" Snow asked as he entered the room.

"For marrying you." Lightning deadpanned causing Snow to roll his eyes.

"We'll figure this out." she whispered to Serah.

As she turned to find Noel, she couldn't help glaring at Snow.

"What did I do?" he asked.

"Your stupid snoring kept me up all night," she said.

"Sorry," he said with his mouth full of toast.

Rolling her eyes, she turned to leave. She had to go find Noel and talk to him about the note she had gotten. A sudden wave of pain shot through her, followed by sudden dizziness caused her to stumble forward and having to grab onto the counter top for support.

"Claire?" Serah asked suddenly alarmed.

"I'm fine." she lied calmly.

She couldn't have an attack now, not in front of them. Then again if she suddenly ran into the guest room for privacy they would know something was up. She vaguely could tell that this sudden attack was different: Her arm wasn't trembling, nor was it hurting any more than normal. The pain was everywhere else, and making her feel lightheaded. Had she overworked herself lately? She didn't think so...

The pain increased in her chest, causing her heart to skip a beat and her to gasp for a breath as she fell to her knees.

"Claire!"

They were both at her side in an instant, but she had already collapsed.

* * *

_Lightning's dream was fuzzy. Serah out for a walk in new Bodhum, things perfectly calm until they suddenly erupted into chaos. The matter came and attacked the villagers. Then in a flash it was gone, and those who has not been hurt began helping the wounded. A building had collapsed, and Noel along with the rest of Nora were quickly trying to move the rubble: Some one was trapped inside. _

_They dug out Snow first, unconscious and injured with Serah in his arms. He would be ok, but Serah was no more. She saw the matter once more before she awoke._

She bolted up in bed panting at the dark fuzzy nightmare. Her arm throbbed, a warning that an attack would soon be coming, but the rest of her pain was gone. Ripping the sleeve off her arm, she saw that the bandages had not been bleed through at all, which meant it hadn't been an attack from the stigma at all.

Remembering glimpses of her dream, and the pain she had felt in her chest, she slowly unzipped her sweater until it was right above her bra: Her L'cie brand had reappeared once more. Letting out a curse, she quickly zipped it back up, then yanked on her sleeve before grabbing her gunblade and exiting the room.

"Where's Serah?" she asked Snow as soon as she saw him.

"She went for a walk." he told her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You've been out for a couple hours..."

"I'm fine," she said as she ignored the increasing pain in her arm.

"You're sure?" he asked. "Serah's really worried about you."

"Look Snow I'm fine ok? Now I need to find her." she said sternly.

The screams came before either of them could say more. Lightning immediately dashed outside, knowing full well what was going to happen. As predicted, the matter had come and began to attack the villagers. Many of them had gotten their guns and were shooting at it, but as expected it still has no effect.

Lightning spotted Serah running from part of the matter that only seemed to be after her, crossbow in her hands.

"SERAH!"

Snow and Lightning both ran towards her, determined to save her. Knowing full well that Snow wasn't going to get to her in time, she bolted for it. She saw her trip and fall under the weak building that creaked with warning as the matter brushed against. That was when the stigma attack hit Lightning with full force, knocking her to the ground as she fought to stay conscious once more.

Letting out a curse, she quickly reached for the power within her and grabbed the pink crystal needed to summon her Eidolon. She tossed it into the air and smashed it with her sword, calling out Odin.

"Save her!" she pleaded as she gripped her bleeding arm.

Odin took action, leaping towards her fallen sister and gently swooping her into his arms and leaping out of the way right before the building collapsed. Snow stumbled to a stop in a jaw dropping shock, glancing back to Lightning. She cursed again as she saw the matter was now heading her way instead, but Odin gently put Serah down next to Snow, and leapt back to her side wielding Zansuken. The matter paused in front of the Eidolon, as if it could either be hurt by it, or not do harm to it. The stand off happened silently for a few moments, then the matter slowly vanished entirely from the village.

Lightning sighed from relief as she muttered a thank you to Odin as he dematerialized, then glanced back over to Serah and Snow. They were both safe and sound, but looking at her in disbelieve. She sighed, knowing that she would have some explaining to do once she woke up. She briefly wondered if she would crystallize once more as unconscious took over, and everything slowly faded to black.

_**Author's Notes**_

You guys didn't really think I'd kill Serah did you? I'm not THAT evil -_- Sorry it's a tad late...Again not having internet at home REALLY sucks right now...

For all the people that decided to review, thank you and please continue because motivation is dropping right now. I'm trudging through chapter 8...


	6. V Focus

_**V Focus**_

All the pain was gone when Lightning awoke. She once again found herself back in the guest bedroom, but saw that this time her sleeve and bandages had been removed: Her stigma was completely gone. Blinking in confusion as she looked at her completely healthy arm, she sat up and gently stroked where the stigma had been. It felt real, it wasn't a dream.

She remembered Hope had said that there was a cure, and wondered if he had shown up and had given it to her when she was asleep. It was a logical explanation. But how long had see been out, and why hadn't she crystallized? Her focus had been to save Serah, and now she was safe.

Still confused, she quickly unzipped her sweater, and saw that her brand was still there, still active. Muttering a curse as she zipped it back up, she heard soft footsteps approach from the hall and Serah entered the room.

"Claire?" she asked worriedly.

"You're alright," Lightning said softly as she stood up and approached her.

"I should be the one saying that..."

"I had to tell them about the stigma," Hope said as he also stepped in the room, giving Lightning a "please don't hate me for it" look.

"Well the cure worked." she told them both as she showed them her arm. "Pain's gone."

They both sighed from relief. Serah had called Hope immediately when she saw that Lightning was injured, and he had come with the cure as fast as he could. They both watched the stigma dissolve into tiny green streams of life when he poured the mysterious healing water on her arm, but they hadn't been entirely sure it had completely worked until now. Of course later Hope was going to encourage Lightning to go for a check up, and make sure she was fine now.

"What about your brand?" Serah asked. "Why didn't you tell us about it Claire?"

"It showed up when I past out after breakfast." she explained.

"What's your focus?" Hope asked immediately.

Lightning sighed, and looked at her sister in the eyes.

"I saw you die in the dream Serah..." she said making her younger sister flinch.

"So it's gone now then right?" Hope asked.

She nodded. Telling the truth would make them both worry, especially Serah. She would tell Hope the truth when they had their privacy back, then maybe he could help her figure out why it was still there...

* * *

"You're sure there was nothing else in the dream?" Hope asked her as he watched her pace about the room in frustration.

"You've asked me that a thousand times Hope." she answered him angrily.

"I know but I just can't help thinking there's been something you've over looked..."

"All I saw was Serah." she told him for the thousandth time.

"Then maybe she's just not safe yet..." he suggested, getting a stern glare in return that made him very uneasy.

"I doubt it." was all she said.

It had been almost six months since the incident. Deciding the matter attack Bodhum had been the final straw, The Academy had declared Pulse unsafe and had urged it's citizens to evacuate to Bhunivelze. They hadn't forced anyone to leave, but all of them saw the reasoning in the matter, and had packed their things and settled into Bhunivelze easily. Pulse was now highly restricted until they could figure out what exactly was going on and how it could become safe again.

Serah had given birth to the twins a couple weeks ago. Both Snow and Lightning had been in the delivery room with her, holding her hand and encouraging her through the long labor. It had gone smoothy, both babies completely normal and healthy and Serah just worn out. Claire Vanille Villiers and Nora Fang Villiers were safe and sound on Bhunivelze with Noel and their parents, how could she not be safe?

"Just a thought..." Hope told her softly.

"Well I don't want to hear it," she said as she turned away from him, making him sigh.

However, deep down he wondered if he was possibly right...Why else would her brand still be active? Frowning, she unzipped her sweater a bit to take a peak at her brand. She had more arrows now, but the eye had still yet to appear.

"I still have plenty of time Hope." she assured him as she zipped it back up.

He nodded silently, but she could tell that he was still worried.

"I need some air." she told him as she calmly left the room.

What she really wanted was a drink alone, but she didn't feel like going out. Besides at this time of night everyone out in the bars would already be drunk, and she didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of intoxicated idiots hitting on her. Plus she had patrol duty tomorrow in the late morning, and having a hangover would not be good for that.

Walking along the lone empty hallways of The Academy's headquarters, listening to her own footsteps on the tile and silently nodding at the occasional guard, she found herself standing in front of the chamber which Fang and Vanille's crystal's were being kept safely until they awoke. She had actually meant to go outside for a walk and some air like she had told Hope, but her feet had brought her here instead.

Sighing, she took out her key card which gave her access to almost all the locked rooms in the building, and slid it through the lock beside the door. It beeped once, then the doors opened allowing her through.

She wasn't sure why she had come here, but thought that maybe part of her thought she could find the answers she sought with them. She knew it was stupid, after all they were both still asleep, but maybe, just maybe she could talk to them.

_"Come to see us Light?" _Fang asked in her mind.

"Yeah..." she said softly as she stepped inside and leaned against the wall.

Their crystals were both fully intact and levitated a couple yards above the floor. They held each others hands, and both had calm happy smiles on their frozen faces.

_"Something the matter?" _Vanille asked worriedly.

"My brand's back and I don't know my damn focus," she said getting rather annoyed at the whole situation.

_"Definitely been there before..." _Fang half joked, making her smile.

_"Do you still have time?" _Vanille asked more worriedly.

"Plenty." she answered.

_"You'll figure it out Light," _Fang told her. _"You just have to look a little harder."_

_"Just don't give up Light, you have to stay positive!" _said Vanille.

She smiled a bit, glad that even if they couldn't help her much, they were still good people to talk to.

"Thanks, and I will." she told them softly as she began to leave the room. "Sweet dreams."

Feeling a bit better, she went back to Hope. He didn't notice her when she first walked in, for he was trying to get a feel for one of her old gun blades.

A few months ago, she had dragged him to a weapon shop, telling him that he needed something better than that old boomerang of his. It didn't go to well, and in the end they had found nothing that suited him.

However, she did get him a survival knife very similar to the one that Serah had gotten for her, as well as polished up one of her old gun blade's that she didn't use any more and given it to him.

_"To keep you safe." she told him._

_"Sure it's not to heavy for me?" he joked._

When they had time she would train with him, make sure he knew how to use it properly and defend himself, but he hadn't quite grasped it all just yet.

"You're getting better." she told him as she walked towards him.

"You think so?" he asked.

She nodded. He still needed quite a bit of work and practice, but he was slowly improving.

"Get some sleep Hope." she told him as she walked towards their room.

* * *

The next afternoon she and Hope stopped by Snow and Serah's place. Lightning wanted to make sure they were doing well with the new born twins, and also wanted to check on something. While Serah, Hope and Noel were socializing in the living room, she motioned for Snow to talk to her in another room.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I want to know if your brand's back." she said

Blinking, he pulled up his sleeve and showed her that his arm was blank. She sighed.

"Yours isn't really gone isn't it?" he asked.

"I don't want Serah to worry," he told him sternly. "I've got it under control."

"Hope too?" he asked..

She shook her head. She hadn't heard anything from Sazh either...Why was it only her? The Goddess had chosen her once before, so it did make sense that it would happen again, but why? Was her fate to forever be a l'Cie slave? If so she wouldn't have it. She would find a way to change it...

"So then what's your focus?" he asked.

"It's complicated," she said.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she noticed it was time for Noel and her to patrol the streets.

"Not a word to Serah." she reminded him sternly.

* * *

Lightning sighed when she felt the first few raindrops fall, while Noel groaned when it soon began to pour down on them.

"Lovely." Lightning's muttered sarcastically.

The two of them stepped under the awning of the nearest building, hoping it would slow down in a few and they could continue their patrol without catching a cold.

"You ok?" she asked Noel a bit concerned, seeing that he looked a little pale and worn.

"Just been tired lately," he said.

"Kid's keep you up?" she half joked.

He yawned in response. He had actually begun to feel it long before the kids were born. It started back in New Bodhum. He would sometimes get worn out, or just feel tired for no reason. It had slowly increased from there, feeling like his energy was slowly being sucked out of him. He got frequent headaches as well, just making it worse.

When he moved to Bhunivelze and joined the Guardian Corps. as Lightning suggested for a job for him, he began to notice it more and more, and wondered if something was seriously wrong with him. He tried not to push himself, as well as get more rest and stay healthy, but nothing worked.

He kept it hiding, not wanting anyone to worry. At the same time, he went in for a check up, just to be on the safe side. The doctors told him that everything was just fine and completely normal with him, but he wasn't so sure...

It was seriously beginning to bug him, and he thought about telling them all about it. If something was indeed wrong with him, then maybe they could help.

A sudden splash caught both of their attention at once. Hands reached for their respective weapons, as their eyes turned to sound. The rain was still coming down hard, so no one else was on the streets. It was easy to spot the young man that had collapsed on the other side of the street by an alley, and they both ran to make sure he was alright.

As they approached him, they could see that he was holding a young woman close to him protectively be neath him, whom also appeared to be unconscious. Hope would recognize her in an instant, for she wore the same pink dress and red jacket, with a pink ribbon tied in her twisted braid, but the man was different. He wore a sleeveless black sweater with matching black baggy pants and combat boots. A brown muscle belt was around his waste, with a symbol engraved in the middle that they couldn't entirely see. Suspenders and black armor pauldrons were attached to it, as well as a long wide shinning silver sword on his back.

Lightning felt for a pulse on him, sighing when she didn't feel any and shaking her head at Noel. She couldn't see any visible wounds on him, but he was unmistakeable dead, for he didn't appear to be breathing either. She was about to check the woman next, when he suddenly groaned and moved, startling them both. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the both of them, then smiling softly as if he recognized them.

"We made it..." he said weakly.

He tightened his gasp on the girl, as if he was assuring himself that she was still there with him, then it loosed as he began to sink back into unconsciousness.

"Watch over her Lightning..." he said softly.

_**Author's Notes**_

_****_Yay, not only do I update on time but I finally finished chapter 8! ^_^ I also had a great time at OMG con last weekend, and everyone liked my bad fanfic panel. So anyway yay for Zack and Aerith showing up some more, and thank you to all the people that reviewed last chap ^_^


	7. VI Second Warnings

_**VI Second Warnings**_

"Who are they?" Snow asked as he and Hope stepped outside to help carry the strangers in.

Lightning wanted to know who they were, and how the man knew her name of all things. She thought that she and Noel would be able to carry them both by themselves, but the strangers sword added to much extra weight for them to handle. It had taken both of them to just barely lift the over sized sword off the magnet that attached him to him. Plus even in his unconscious state, the young man did not want to let the woman out of his grasp. With some effort they had gotten them almost separated, but they held each others hands tightly as if their life depended on it.

It was then when Lightning decided to call Snow for an extra hand or two, and gave him the quick run down of what happened.

"Don't know." Lightning admitted.

She had searched both of their pockets looking for any clue about them, but turned up empty.

"He called me by name, I need to know who he is."

Nodding, Snow carefully lifted the unconscious man up and onto his back, while Lightning carried the woman in her arms. They both felt the strangers stiffen while they did so, and tightened their grasp on each others interlaced fingers.

"They really must not wanna let go," said Snow.

"Wonder why..." Noel pondered as he and Hope struggled to lift the man's sword off the ground and carry it.

"Shesh how does he wield this thing?" Hope commented.

Hope then got a good look of the woman that Lightning held in her arms, and dropped the sword in shock, causing Noel to fall over unable to hold the sudden extra weight.

"Dear Etro it's her..." he whispered as he walked towards her to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks.

"You know her?" Lightning asked.

"She's the one that gave me the cure..."

Lightning frowned as she looked down at her. Just what was going on?

"We better get some answers," she said.

* * *

They laid them to rest in the guest room, anxious for them to wake. Lightning paced around the room with impatience, while Hope sat quietly flipping his knife open and closed. Snow and Serah quickly got busy with the kids, but soon put them down in their room for a nap. It wasn't long afterwords when they woke up. They were both silent as they slowly stepped into the living room, still holding hands.

"Thanks for bringing us inside."

The moment she spoke Serah gasped, for she recognized her voice from the strange dream she had had after her near death experience. Everyone turned to her, Snow, Noel and Hope with raised eyebrows.

"You were in my dream..." Serah said softly.

The woman smiled a bit, and nodded.

"So you remember then," she said.

"You're also the one that gave me that water..." Hope said, wanting answers this time.

"Who the hell are you?" Lightning demanded in a stern tone.

"My name is Aerith," the woman began.

The man opened his mouth to speak as he caught Lightning's narrowed gaze, then gulped and sighed before final speaking.

"It's me," he said. "Zack..."

Serah, Snow and Noel all blinked and stared with confused faces, but Lightning just narrowed her eyes at him even further.

"This is my real form." Zack explained. "I took the form of the wolf to keep an eye on you and watch out for you, as well as to avoid questions."

"That's a load of crap," Lightning said, not believing his rather unlikely story.

She calmly approached them, but then looked Zack in the eye and grabbed a hold of the front of his sweater roughly.

"Who are you really?" she demanded again.

"Claire!" Serah said at her sister's rudeness.

Zack showed no fear under her gaze. Instead, he let out another sigh, and gently let go of Aerith's hand. The moment he did so part of him faded into tiny little green streams of light, startling Lightning and causing her to let go and take a step back.

"What are you?" she said, hand hovering around her gunblade.

"Just a couple ghosts from the past." he answered calmly as he took Aerith's hand once more and became solid again.

Lightning blinked, not believing her eyes, then slowly reached out and poked him to see if he was real. He felt solid, but when he let go of Aerith's hand once more and was poked again, more of him temporarily dissolved into the streams.

"How is this possible?" Hope asked, standing up and also gently poking them.

"We can explain." Zack told them. "If you'll let us."

"I'm also afraid we're not bringing good news..." Aerith said softly, lowering her gaze.

"So you've come with a message?" Noel asked.

They both nodded, then made their way to the empty couch to sit down, while everyone else calmly and eagerly gathered around them to listen.

"Have any of heard of the lifestream?" Aerith asked.

They all shrugged or shook their heads.

"It's basically like the river of life on Pulse, that circles the planet and gives it life." Aerith explained.

"It's also where all the deceased souls go after they've past through Etro's gate." Zack added. "Most of them fade into it, but neither of us can."

"That's why we we're both able to psychically materialize like this." Aerith told them.

"You were able to leave the lifestream entirely?" Noel asked.

"Well it was tricky," she said.

"We had to try and pass through Etro's gate at the right time to make it up here on Bhunivelze without getting our souls torn apart." Zack explained. "We only barely made it, and the planet is trying to tug us back."

"You said you had something to tell us?" Snow asked.

"You two changed the time line..." Zack began as he looked at Noel and Serah, causing them to both pale and stiffen.

"We changed the future for the better." Noel told him.

"That may be true, but..."

Zack drifted off and lowered his gaze, not wanting to finish.

"But what?" Lightning asked sternly. "What the hell is happening?"

"It's what'snot going to happen now that's caused the chaos to leak through and start to destroy everything..." Aerith said softly, also not looking at anyone. "In the original time line, 700 AF...All life on the planet was supposed to end."

"WHAT?" Noel shouted angrily as he stood up.

"I didn't say we were happy about it." Zack defended calmly.

"The future changed so much it upset the balance of things, and angered the planet..." Aerith continued.

"In our time, there was a disease that came through contact with part of the lifestream. Most of the people that got it died before Aerith found the cure, and their souls could never fully fade once they passed. Now those souls are anger with the balance being upset, and are mixed with the chaos of Valhalla are leaking through to this world." Zack finished.

Things were silent as they all took it in. Noel sighed and turned away, still angry at the fact that what Zack said could actual be true. It had made sense, after all the soil had become barren, disease frequent, water and game hard to come by...He really had been the last of mankind, was he destined to die back then? To end the human race?

"What's going to happen if this continues?" Hope asked worriedly.

"At this rate Pulse will crumble entirely...And take those left in the lifestream with it," Aerith said softly.

Zack gently put his arm around his love, and pulled her close, muttering that it would be alright.

"Well then what can we do to prevent it?" Snow asked.

Pulse was Fang and Vanille's Home. Everyone knew they would be devastated if it was gone forever when they woke up.

"To be honest I really don't know..." Zack said.

"What about the Goddess?" Serah asked. "Can't she do something?"

The moment she mentioned Etro Zack and Aerith became completely silent, and stared down at the floor. Realization hit Noel like a tidal wave as he recalled Caius' words to him long ago:

_"...Should this heart stop beating, the Goddess will die once again..."_

He stiffened as he paled, and began to tremble as he slowly looked down at his hands. He had killed Caius. He hadn't meant to, but because of him...

"I killed the Goddess?" he said to himself, not wanting it to be true.

He hadn't just ended the life of a friend, a life of another human being, but had doomed life on Pulse.

"She's not dead." Zack told them. "She's weak, but still alive." he assured him.

She was dying, but didn't want to say it out loud. Things were bad enough right now as is.

"There's nothing we can do, is there?" Hope asked softly.

"It's all my fault..." Noel said as he slowly sat back down and buried his face in his hands.

"You didn't kill him Noel," Serah said as she gently hugged him, trying to comfort him.

"It's Caius' fault, not yours." Lightning told him.

"He caused this mess from the beginning..." Hope said softly.

Moments later Serah heard the twins cry out softly, telling her that nap time was over. She wanted to stay and comfort Noel, but the kids took priority. Snow got up and left the room with her to help, while Aerith took Serah's place next to Noel. They couldn't tell because his face was still covered by his hands, but he was quietly sobbing.

"Shhh, there there..." she said to him softly as she hugged him and gently rubbed his back. "It'll be ok...Somehow, it'll work out..."

Snow returned with little Nora in his arms a minute later, once again sleeping peacefully, but Serah was still busy with Claire. The room was almost dead silent with the gloom that now hung in the air. It stopped when the electricity went out. They all glanced up at the light's worriedly, then Hope stood up and pulled back the curtain of the window.

"It looks like the whole block's out..." he said worriedly.

"What's going on?" Serah asked as she came back in with Claire slowly falling back asleep in her mother's arms.

Aerith gasped in pain a moment later, both hands going to her stomach as she began to fall and loose consciousness. Zack was at her side in an instant, and caught her safely.

"Is she ok?" Noel asked a bit alarmed, seeing that she appeared to be bleeding where she had covered her hands.

"Yeah, she just had a vision..." Zack answered.

Serah stiffened, remembering Aerith's words in her dream:

_"I'll take your place..."_

Was this what she had meant by that? Had she somehow struck an exchange with the Goddess that she would receive Etro's blessing instead? If that was the case, then the visions were causing her pain, but instead of loosing pieces of her life, she was re experiencing her death...Serah shivered at the thought, wondering why Aerith would go through such a thing for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Mog suddenly trembled and fell to the ground, his glowing pom pom growing dim. Lightning caught him before he hit the floor, having a bad feeling in her gut.

"The Goddess..." he said. "She has gone kupo..."

It took a minute for everyone to take in his words as the light from him faded entirely, and he became limp.

"No..."Zack whispered.

"It's to late..." Noel said.

A loud bell rang in the distance as chaos seemed to sweep in around them from no where. Serah let out a short shriek, and was quickly grabbed a hold of by Snow as they both held on to their children tightly.

"Stay together!" Lightning shouted over the tolling of bells, and soft echoes of scream that seemed to come with them.

Gently tucking the weak moogle under her arm, she quickly grabbed a hold of Hope's arm, who had already grabbed Noel. Zack held Aerith tightly in his arms, and saw that Noel was reaching out his other arm towards him. He frowned, and shook his head.

"It's no use for us," he said as the chaos began to grip him. "I'm sorry we couldn't warn you in time..."

The chaos then consumed them both and pulled away, shocking them all and startling Noel the most since his hand had been only a couple inches away, but he quickly snapped out of it and reached for Snow instead. Snow flinched when he felt Noel tightly grip the back of his coat, causing him to slightly loosen his grip on Serah.

The chaos went after Serah at that moment, grabbing a hold of her tightly and pulling her away from his grasp. She let out a scream as she was pulled away, and reached out to try and grab a hold of him, while she tried her best not to let Claire slip through her grasp.

"NO!" Snow shouted as he also reached out to her.

"SERAH!" they all shouted.

She was pulled away right before Snow could reach her, leaving the rest of them to be grabbed and pulled away into the darkness as well. The last thing they heard, was the familiar tolling of the bells in the distance.

**Author_'s Notes_**

So shit's finally explained now! XD And I'm once again being evil with cliffhangers...I would tell you Im going to stop with them, but I'm not XD Sorry...


	8. VII Chance to Change Fate

_**VII Chance To Change Fate**_

"Are you alright?"

Serah groaned as she heard the calm voice call out her name. She felt soft fresh green grass below her, and the warmth of her sleeping child still in her arms. She opened her eyes slowly as she sat up and cradled Claire tightly. She was about to tell the man that she was fine, and ask where she was, but before she could she saw his face, and let out a scream. It was Caius Ballad.

* * *

Nora's soft crying was what woke everyone. Naturally Snow was the first, and slowly sat up and gently rocked her back and forth in his arms to try and calm her down.

"It's ok," he said softly. "Daddy's here, daddy's got you..."

Her crying slowly softened, making him sigh, then quickly look around for the others. Lightning, Noel, and Hope were awake and getting to their feet, but Serah was no where in sight. Gulping nervously, he stood up and told himself that the chaos had just separated them, nothing more.

"Any idea where we are?" he asked.

"Looks like Pulse to me," Noel said, looking around at the grassy fields they were in. "Not sure where though..."

"When might be a better question," Lightning said.

"You think the chaos pulled us to a different time?" Hope asked, receiving a nod from his fiancee.

"It would make sense." Noel added.

"Guys..." Snow said, catching their attention. "Look,"

He held up his left arm as he spoke, showing that his brand was back.

Hope stiffened, and quickly checked his wrist.

"Mine too..." he said.

Noel checked himself to see if he too had been branded, but didn't see any signs of it. He hadn't remembered any pain or dreams either.

"So we're lost l'Cie then, well that's just great," Lightning said sarcastically.

"Well there's one clue right there," Hope said as he pointed towards the sky.

"No way..." Snow muttered as he saw Cocoon suspended in the distant sky.

Not only was it not supported by the crystal pillar, but it's shell was completely intact. They all knew that Cocoon's shell had been cracked during the war of transgression. Seeing it intact was all the proof they needed that they had been pulled back in time.

"Yeah..." Lightning said softly. "Which means we really are in the past."

"670 BF to be exact," Zack said as he materialized behind them, startling them. "Sorry," he apologized noticing that they had all reached for their weapons. "Are you all alright?" he asked.

"More or less," Noel said.

"Any idea where Serah is?" Snow asked.

Zack shook his head. "Aerith's talking to the planet right now, trying to see if she was pulled into the same time period." he explained. "In the mean time I decided to try and track you guys down."

Snow's face fell, but he put faith in Zack's words. He was almost a stranger, but he couldn't lose hope. He didn't want to think about what they would do if Serah had been pulled into a different era entirely...

"You said 670 BF right?" Hope asked. "That's long before the war of transgression."

"Before Fang and Vanille's time then," said Snow.

"This wouldn't happen to be close to your time would it?" Noel asked Zack.

Zack chuckled and shook his head.

"Aerith and I have been dead for a couple thousand years now, long before the fal'Cie came into play and created Cocoon."

He said this lightly, but for everyone else it was pretty shocking news.

"Anyway that's not really important now," he said, turning a bit more serious. "I think we're here for a reason."

"You're not the only one," Snow said flashing his brand once more.

"You don't think the chaos pulled us here randomly?" Noel asked.

"Well what was the last thing you all remember?" he asked. "If you guys are l'Cie then..."

They knew what he was getting at; the dream, the clue about their focus. Any l'Cie would have one.

"I saw Caius..." Snow said.

"Dying." Hope and Lightning finished.

They all remembered the same thing: Caius, becoming one with his Eidolon for the first time, and dying because of it. Then Etro granted him mercy and made him immortal by giving him the heart of chaos, something that would seal fate.

"Seems pretty obvious then," Snow said.

"We need to take down Caius before he becomes immortal, and prevent the time line from becoming warped."

"Makes sense to me," said Zack.

Lightning nodded, but saw that Noel had remained silent.

"But what about Yuel?" he asked.

"She'll have other guardians." Lightning reminded him.

"And there's no guarantee that one of them might try and free her from her fate down the line." Noel pointed out.

"That may be true, but either way we have a focus to complete." Hope countered calmly.

"A focus given to us by Etro herself, a chance to prevent fate." Lightning added sternly. "Failure isn't an option here."

Noel sighed as he gave up, and lowered his gaze.

"I don't like this..." he muttered softly.

Caius had still been his friend at one point, and the thought of killing him again was unsettling. They would change the future by doing it, would that in turn kill Yuel, or even Serah?

_It's just not fair for them..._

He wondered if this was how Caius actually felt, seeing Yuel die countless times and unable to do anything to stop it...That would drive anyone insane.

"It's seems a bit obvious though..." Hope pointed out, interrupting Noel's thoughts. "L'Cie's focus isn't supposed to be spelled out for them..."

Snow and Lightning knew what he was getting at, how the first time they had been cursed by the fal'cie some of them had misunderstood their focus. As Hope had reminded them they were supposed to take the blurry clues from the dream, and figure it out on their own.

"Well it seems pretty clear to me." Snow said with a shrug.

Lightning glared at him for a moment, remembering that he had completely and arrogantly misunderstood their focus from the beginning. He noticed, and chuckled softly.

"Just sayin..."

She sighed, and rolled her eyes at her annoying brother in law.

"If we're wrong then fine, we've all got time to figure it out." she said.

Hope bit his lip and glanced at her worriedly, knowing full well that she had less time then all of them, and didn't know how much. What if her focus was different from theirs? He noticed she had glanced over at him when she said that they all had plenty of time, with a look of assurance in her eyes. He would just have to trust her on it.

"We need to find Serah." Snow reminded everyone.

Lightning nodded in agreement, feeling Mog twitch slightly under her arm. She blinked, and realized she had almost forgotten about him.

"Mog?" she asked, holding him gently.

She noticed that his pom pom was flickering dimly as he came to, which she took as a good sign. He twitched again, then slowly began to fly out of Lightning's gentle grasp and once again begin to hover as his pom pom brightened ever so slightly.

"I still feel pretty weak, kupo..." he said softly.

"Maybe you just need a little energy boost," Zack said as he stretched out his arms in front of him.

He touched Mog briefly, everyone watching as he momentarily dematerialized by the now familiar green streams of light, and sent some of his energy into the weak moogle.

"Better?" he asked as he took his his hand off him and returned to normal.

His pom pom turned brighter almost instantly, and he was able to fly normally without any problems.

"Thank you kupo."

"Will you be ok?" Hope asked Zack.

Zack nodded.

"Solid materialization is easy down here." he explained.

He then looked up at the sky, as if he seemed to hear something that no one else could.

"What is it?" Lightning asked.

"Aerith found Serah..." he began.

"And?" Snow asked quickly a bit worried. "Where is she? Is she alright?"

"She's with Caius..." he said.

_**Author's Notes**_

Blech. I hate fillers -_- Cut this one shorter than originally planned because I trudged through it, and left a cliff hanger because, well I felt like it XD Yeah I'm evil, but even evil people deserve some of these right?

l

l

l

v

right?


	9. VIII Plan

_**VIII Plan**_

"Get away from me!" Serah shouted as she quickly cast waterga at him as she got to her feet.

Caius was caught of guard by the spell and knocked back by it, giving her a moment to put a couple yards between them and frantically look around for the others. Where were they? Where was Mog? She wouldn't be able to fight him very well without a weapon.

Claire had woken up when she had screamed, scaring the poor baby and making her cry. She felt sorry for her, but she was more worried about keeping Caius from hurting them both. She continued to back away as he slowly stood up and dusted himself off. She quickly began looking for a place she could run or hide.

_This is Pulse..._

She gulped nervously, knowing full well that if she did bolt for it monsters would be crawling everywhere, and without a weapon she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

_Someone help me! _she wanted to shout. _Snow, Lightning, Noel, where are you?_

She had gotten separated from them, that much she remembered. For the moment she was on her own...

"Serah!" she heard Aerith shout.

Startled out of her thoughts, she looked around and saw Aerith running towards them.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized to Caius, making Serah blink in confusion. "A little while ago our party got attacked by monsters and we all got separated," she lied. "and I think you startled her." she finished.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to frighten you miss." Caius sincerely apologized, confusing her even more.

_What's going on here?_

"Y-Yeah..." was all she could manage to say before she began trying to calm down little Claire.

"Is the rest of you party near by?" he asked turning to Aerith.

"I not quite sure..." she lied again.

"Well it is not safe for you two to be out here like this, I'll lead you back to Paddra." he told them.

_Paddra? _

Serah vaguely recognized the name, but she couldn't quite place it...

_Can you hear me Serah? _she heard Aerith ask softly in her mind as they started following Caius.

She noticed that the faint whispers of the other voices had returned as well, but seemed much calmer than she remembered. She turned to look at the ghost beside her, and nodded silently, not sure what else to do.

_You can speak with your thoughts. _Aerith told her.

_How is this possible? _she asked, hoping she could answer some of her questions.

_The voices you're hearing are from the lifestream. _She explained. _You have a bit of a connection because-_

_I died... _

_Yes._

It did answer her questions about the voices, and she was glad that it wasn't because she was going crazy, but at the same time it creeped her out even more now. To think that she was hearing the voices off all the souls in the lifestream...It was unsettling.

She decided not to dwell on it now, and move on to a couple more questions she hoped Aerith could help answer.

_Where, or when are we? _she asked. _And where are the others? Are they alright._

_Gran Pulse, 670 BF, and yes everyone's fine. _

She sighed from relief, making Caius glance back at her with a raised eye brow.

"Everything ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah." she answered, remembering that he couldn't hear any part of their conversation.

She was a little worried about being thrown into the past without a way out and separated from everyone else, but she believed Aerith when she said they were all safe and sound, plus the fact that Caius didn't know her at all in this time meant that she didn't have to worry about him attacking them.

_I have one more question._

_Yes?_

_Why did you save me from my death? Why did you take the burden of Etro's blessing for me?_

Aerith bit her lip and frowned a bit, but she still answered her question.

_Zack and I watched you and Noel on your journey through time through the lifestream. We saw how much you cared about changing it for the better, and wanted to be reunited with Snow and you're sister...I just couldn't sit by and watch you die like that, and your loved ones mourn your death... _

_Thank you, but you really didn't have to do that for me. I knew I was probably going to die, I was prepared to. _

_You deserve to live your life out Serah. Look at yourself now, married with two beautiful little girls. Aren't you happy?_

Serah looked down at Claire in her arms. She thought of Snow, of Lightning, Noel and Hope...What would they have all done if Aerith hadn't saved her? Would Snow be able to live without her by his side? Would Lightning and Noel blame themselves for it? She didn't want to think about it. She was still alive, and that's what mattered.

_You and Zack..._

_Yes?_

_We're you together when you were alive?_

She nodded.

_We were, but not for long. He was in the military like you're sister and went away on a mission far away..._

_And never came back? _

She nodded again, this time sadly.

_I didn't know he was dead for sure until I ran into him in the lifestream a few years after he went missing. Being alone was awful, and I didn't want to see you or Snow go through that._

Serah was more than a little touched by Aerith's words. She had saved her because she had seen the love that surrounded her and Snow. It brought tears to her eyes.

_Thank you... _

_Please just live out your lives together happily, thank me in that way._

"We're here." Caius spoke up, interrupting their silent conversation.

* * *

"If he harms one hair on Serah's head I'm going to kill him," Lightning said as she began to storm off away from the group without warning.

"Whoa hang on!" she heard Zack call after her.

"Light!"

Hope too.

"Lightning!"

She heard Noel's footsteps quickly catch up to her, and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Just hold on a minute!" he said. "Are you just going to find him and kill him on the spot?"

It _had _crossed her mind, after all if that was their focus then why not complete it as soon as possible and get it over with? Then time would return to normal. In this time Caius didn't know her, she could catch him completely off guard and end it with a single bullet if she wanted to, treat him like a target, not a person.

"No." she told him. "I'll find him, and wait for the right moment."

It was a bit safer plan, just in case they were wrong about their focus after all.

"But-"

"If we want to change the future Caius has to die," she said as she shrugged him off.

"But it doesn't have to be that way! If we could just stop him from becoming immortal then-"

"You're to soft Noel," she said sternly, looking him in the eye.

"Killing him just doesn't seem right!"

"You'd rather watch us all become Cie'th instead?" she shouted, making him flinch. "We have a focus, and you're not even supposed to-"

"That's enough!" Zack interrupted, coming between them. "Standing here arguing isn't going to accomplish anything."

Lightning glared at him, but shut her mouth.

"Now Caius in this time doesn't know any of you, therefore he won't harm someone like Serah." he reminded them.

"Where are they?" Snow asked.

"Aerith said they just reached Paddra, it's a few miles north of here." Zack told them.

"She's safe there?" Noel asked.

"Yeah, Aerith's with her."

"Well we better get going if we wanna catch up to them soon," Lightning said as she began walking north.

"Wait," Noel said again, making her stop.

"What is it now?" she asked with her arms folded, getting rather frustrated with him.

"If we all walk in there as we are you guys are gonna stand out WAY to much..."

Lightning, Hope, and Snow all stared down at their clothes and saw his point. They were on Pulse, and their clothes were practically a dead give away that they weren't from around here. If people were to think that they were from Cocoon, it would get very messy pretty fast. Thankfully, Noel had a decent plan for how to fix it.

With Zack being able to fade into the lifestream and wander around the planet that way, he was able to point them in the direction of a good sized village only a couple miles to the southeast. They then all dug through their pockets, and pulled together a couple good handfuls of Gil.

"Nothing to girly." Lightning told Noel as she handed him her money.

Noel nodded, and calmly walked towards the village while the rest of them patiently waited beyond the out skirts and out of sight.

As predicted, Noel blended in perfectly and was able to buy new clothes for them in the marketplace with no one prying. He returned to the group completely successful with the clothes, along with a messenger bag to hold their old ones.

He gave Lightning hers first, whom then left the group to find a quiet more private place to change. Satisfied with a couple of shady trees with no monsters lurking around them, she stepped into the shade they provided, and looked down at the clothes Noel had gotten for her.

They reminded her a bit of what Vanille had wore, but shrugged deciding they were fine. She undid her jacket and sweater and tossed them aside, then quickly pulled on the dark red midriff halter top. It was a snug fit, but decently modest. She frowned when she tied it and saw that the tip of her brand was peaking out, but there wasn't much she could do about it. It hadn't changed from the last time she glanced at it, so she was fine, still had plenty of time like she had said.

Sighing, she glanced around again for monsters before she changed into the rest of it. She wouldn't want to be attacked and have to fight something while she was in her under wear. Once again pleased that it was quiet, she slid out of her boots, followed by her belts, leg bag, skirt and shorts.

Not wasting any time, she pulled on the long thin black shorts Noel had gotten, glad that he didn't get some short frilly skirt to go with it or anything like that. It also came with a belt, along with a fur pelt reminding her all to well of one Vanille had wore. Sliding the straps of her sheath through the belt, she then slid it on and tucked the pelt around the belt as well. It concealed her sheathed weapon nicely, so she let it be, then gathered up her other clothes and returned to the others.

Snow had discarded his coat and boots, and was wearing a new pair of gray baggy pants and sandals. Apparently baggy pants like the ones Noel wore was the style, because Hope too wore a pair of dark olive green ones with a tight black muscle shirt. He too had a belt, and attached to it was a pouch just big enough to hold his weapons.

"Are we ready then?" she asked.

"Just about," Snow said as he finished changing his daughter's cloth diaper and slipping a new thin pink summer dress on her before picking her up and carrying her.

Seeing that now their party was ready, they began heading in the direction of Paddra, cutting down any monsters that got in their way, and discussing a reasonable story they would have to come up with. When the city came into sight, Lightning noticed Hope had looked a bit nervous, so she gently squeezed his hand for assurance. It would be alight, and if their plan started to fall apart on them she would put a bullet in Caius' forehead the moment it did.

As they calmly approached the city, they saw a few warriors guarding the entrance, along with with Serah, Aerith, and Caius. The moment Serah caught sight of them, she gently handed Claire over to Aerith, and ran to meet them. Snow embraced her happily, glad that she was indeed alright. If it wasn't for him holding Nora, he would've ran to her as well.

"You're not hurt are you?" he asked.

"No." she said. "Are any of you?" she asked a bit worried looking at everyone.

"Well...Not really but..."

She then caught sight of his brand on his arm and stiffened. Glancing towards Lightning and Hope, they nodded as well. She glanced at her own arm, realizing she hadn't done so earlier, but saw that it was bare. Like Noel, she hadn't been made a l'Cie.

"Well talk about this later." Lightning told her, seeing that Caius and Aerith were approaching them.

Her hand twitched as she refrained from reaching for her gunblade, still half wanting to kill him on sight. No one could blame her though, not after having to fight him in Valhalla. It was Hope's turn to give her hand a soft squeeze, as if to remind her of the plan.

"I see you have found your fellow travelers," Caius said.

"Thank you for looking after my sister."

Lightning tried not to sound cold or glare into his eyes, but did keep an eye out for any movements of hostility towards them.

"May I ask what brings you all to Paddra?" Caius asked calmly as he folded his arms.

"Some of us have been branded," Hope said as he flashed Caius his brand. "We've had no contact with a Fal'Cie, but rather the Goddess Etro appearing to us in a dream." he explained.

"Since you're nation worships Etro we thought we might find some clues about our focus." Lightning finished.

It was a decent cover story, and all the same not entirely a lie. They truly did believe that Etro was the one that chose them to be l'Cie once more.

"I see...," Caius said as he eyed them all.

"They may enter," Yuel said calmly as she slowly walked towards the group, followed by one of her guardians.

Noel stiffened a bit, seeing yet another Yuel that as always looked and sounded exactly as all the other did. Just like the Yuel that he had known...

He also noticed that a the young woman by her side not only carried a sword with her, but looked ready to lay down her life for the Seeress at any given moment.

_Is Caius not her true guardian yet? _he thought.

"Are you sure?" Caius asked her, not fully trusting the strangers before him.

"I do not see them opposing any threat."

"Very well," he said before turning back to the group. "But we have a law of no weapons allowed inside the city." he told them.

Nodding, Noel handed over his swords, while Hope did the same with his knife and gunblade, but kept a hold of his boomerang. He doubted anyone would see it as an actual weapon anyway. Lighting hesitated, but undid the straps of her holster for her gunblade and handed it over as well, followed by Mog who had been in crossbow form since Paddra had come in sight. After all a magical talking Moogle would seem more than a little strange to them, and he could just fly back to the group when no one was looking.

Caius eyed Lightning carefully, sensing her hesitation, but neither of them said anything. However, she sensed that now things were going to be a bit more complicated than they thought...

_**Author's Notes**_

_****_And more shit's explained! *cricket chirps*...You guys still here? *glances around*


	10. IX Paddra

_**IX Paddra**_

"It's clear we're not trusted much," Lightning said when they were alone.

Most of the villagers had greeted and welcomed them kindly. They were shown to a small house that they would be staying in, since the family that had lived in it had moved to a different village recently. Some of the other families had also given Snow and Serah some old hand me down clothes that weren't being used any more, and said they would be glad to help out if anything else was needed for them as well.

Caius however had suspicious eyes on them the whole time. Lightning had tried not to glare at him in return, but it was hard since he was her old enemy.

"Yuel seems to trust us." Noel pointed out.

"Yuel's not the one were here to worry about." Lightning countered.

"What exactly is going on?" Serah asked, still not up to date on things.

So they filled her in on what they believed her focus to be.

"Keep in mind that we were also probably sent here in this time for a certain reason too," Noel said.

"670 BF..." Hope muttered, folding his arms as he tried to remember all the research The Academy had done on Paddra when they were in the ruins of it.

"Wait, when did Paddra fall?" Serah asked.

Hope glanced up at her, and shook his head.

"Didn't get an exact date, but I do believe it is around this time..."

"That sounds about right actually." Aerith put in. "I remember a lot of people dying because of a civil war around now..."

Lightning muttered a curse.

"Which means if it starts while were here we'll get caught up in it," she said.

This caused everyone to frown, and fall silent for a moment.

"So what should we do then?" Snow asked, gently rocking Nora to sleep in his arms.

"I think it's best to wait and see what happens for now," Hope said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. There was no need to be hasty with anything, not yet.

* * *

"Is something bothering you Yuel?" Caius asked the young Seeress, seeing that she seemed deep in thought.

"I can not see their future...," she said softly.

"Who's?" Gorgyra, her other strong guardian asked.

She was a young woman in her early twenties, with a short brown bob and deep sapphire blue eyes. She had trained hard and strong to become one of Yuel's guardians, and had also become a good friend to her as well.

"Three of the visitors," Yuel answered.

"Which ones?" Caius asked curiously.

"The dark haired men, and the woman with the ribbon in her hair."

"You can't trace anything in the time line with them?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"What about the others then?" Gorgyra asked.

As if on cue, Yuel stiffened, then made her way over to the oracle drive in the room as Etro's gate appeared in her eyes. She closed her eyes as she placed her hands on it, recording the vision, and collapsed when it over. Both guardians rushed to her side, catching her as she fell, and saw that she had fallen into unconsciousness, but was still alive and breathing.

All guardians of the Seeress were worried every time a Yuel had a vision, for sometimes you never knew if it would be her last. Gently picking her up, Caius gently placed her on her bed so she could rest comfortably, then walked over to the oracle drive to see her vision.

He placed his hand over it, and watched as it game to life and her vision was projected above it. They saw a glimpse of Lightning being branded, then Ragnarok roaring before Cocoon began to fall from the sky. Ragnarok dived into it, then the crystal pillar forming to support it. More glimpses of Lightning followed before it ended.

Caius narrowed his eyes, glancing out the window and staring up at Cocoon.

"So it will fall...," he muttered.

"And that woman, she's with the group that came here," said Gorgyra.

He nodded. The images were crystal clear, it was definitely her. He didn't trust her from the beginning, they way she looked at him coldly as if she knew him and done something terrible, and he had also noticed her hesitation about handed over her weapon.

"I don't trust them," he said. "I'm going to keep a careful watch on them."

* * *

A routine foamed for the group within a few days. They all wanted to earn their stay, both as a thank you, and to keep suspicions down. Noel naturally joined the hunting parties, while Lightning, Zack and Snow helped patrol the outskirts of the city and keep monsters from getting in. Hope was hesitant about it, worried that his low fighting skills would be more of a burden then help, but Lightning convinced him that it would be good experience for him, and reminded him that he had his l'Cie power back as well. They were allowed to have their respective weapons back for this, but gave them back up once they reentered the city.

Serah would've helped as well, but she had her hands full with the twins. Aerith stayed behind to help her with them though, which was nice for her.

It went on calmly for a couple weeks. Caius still suspected them of something, and Lightning was still patiently waiting for the right moment to kill him. Noel of course, was still bought on the idea of just preventing him from becoming immortal. She wouldn't argue with him about it any more, but she still wouldn't have it that way.

An opportunity came when Caius went out to patrol with her. She thought about it, after all they were alone in the darkness and she could get away with it easily, however he had volunteered to take up the rear instead of point, leaving her tense. She felt like he was going to turn on her and stab her in the back at any moment.

He noticed this of course, and smirked at his suspicions. The only reason he came out to patrol with her, was so they he could get a chance to talk to her alone. But first he wanted to test something. She was silent as she kept her eyes front as she walked, both hands on her weapon and finger on the trigger.

He calmly raised his sword from its resting place on his armor, then slashed it at her. She reacted at once, leaping to the side, then turned around and fired at him. He blocked the bullet with his blade, watching her cautiously.

"So you want to kill me?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her grip on her weapon.

"What do you want from me Caius?" she asked sternly.

"I don't buy your story," he said. "Is it me your after? Cutting me down so you can get to Yuel?"

"We're not after the Seeress," she said coldly.

_Just you, _She thought.

It was his turn to narrow his eyes at her, not trusting her words. She still had her gun pointed at him as well, ready to fire at any given moment. Her weapon was also strange to him, for he had seen nothing like it. It was almost like it was made on Cocoon.

He noticed that she was about to pull the trigger on him, and about to lift his sword to strike her down, but then she calmly lowered her weapon. Raising an eyebrow, he noticed she seemed to notice something behind him. At first he thought it was a trick, but then he heard soft footsteps approaching and turned to see a villager approaching them both. Putting his sword away, he turned to him.

"Yuel wants to see you immediately Caius," he said.

_**Author's Notes**_

_****_Gorgyra is NOT an OC, she was in a side quest and I grabbed her and tossed her in here XD

...So...I forgot to update yesterday *sweat drop* And I don't have the next chapter done either T_T So yeah next update will probably be a bit late, just haven't gotten around to finishing it. Between work, procrastinating on cosplay stuff, and slowly freaking out because I've been procrasting on all that, I've also kinda got wrapped up in a partner fic *nervous laugh* But I will not abandon this! Especially when it's so close to be finished. Just bear with me a bit ^_^ Annnnnddddd...

l

l

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**Please? T_T**


	11. X Battleground

_**X Battleground**_

She was back in Valhalla, and Lightning hoped it was just a dream. Looking down, she saw she was back in her armor, but couldn't feel its weight or uncomfortably on her at all.

_Please be a dream__,_She thought.

She let her feet slowly carry her where they wanted to go, looking around as she walked. It was Valhalla alright, silent as always.

Moments later she found her self in front of Etro's throne, which was as empty as the last time she saw it. She knelt and placed her hand over her chest for respect even though she wasn't there, then slowly stood up and reached her hand out as she closed her eyes. This was where she was able to trace the time line in Valhalla, and see everything she wanted.

She saw Caius in Paddra, but not by Yuel's side. Instead he was fighting an army of enemies that she could only assume wanted to get past him and harm the young Seeress. He was wearing down, that much was certain. For a while it didn't look like he was going to win, but then he closed his eyes and did something that would not only end the battle, but life as well: He would perform the spell that would make him one with his Eidolon. He would give his life up to protect Yuel, as any guardian would be willing to do.

Etro was moved by this, and gave him the Heart of Chaos, making him immortal so could protect all the future Yuel's. If only the Goddess had known at the time that it would be her doom...

"Lightning!"

She looked around as she pulled her hand away, hearing Hope call her name sounded alarmed.

"Lightning!"

She heard it again, and listened as it seemed to echo off the walls, but sound far away.

She awoke with a gasp, feeling Hope hold her in his arms, with a worried look on his face. She sighed from relief, glad that it had been a dream after all. But she felt weak, light headed and a little nauseous.

"You ok?" he asked worriedly.

"Think so," she said as he slowly let go of her and placed her back on the bed. "What happened?" she asked, remembering she had fallen asleep with his arms gently wrapped around her as always.

"You suddenly started to feel cold, and looked pretty pale..." he said softly. "Then I noticed you weren't breathing and I panicked."

"For how long?" she asked, sitting up.

"Just a few moments I think," he said.

She frowned. Her dream certainly seemed longer than that, and so real too...

"I think part of me was in Valhalla..."

She looked down at her brand, frowning when she saw the eye had appeared and began to open, but she still had time.

"Is that possible?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"If it happens again try not to freak out, I think I was supposed to be there to see something."

"_Did_ you see anything?"

She nodded.

"Just another clue to the puzzle..."

* * *

The word of Yuel predicting that the nation would fall came the next day, and spread like wild fire.

_I should've killed him when I had the chance._

Lightning was right about them being caught in the middle of the civil war that would soon erupt, and now she was hating herself for not pulling the trigger on him when she could. Not only was the city was slowly erupting into chaos, but since she had been branded sooner than everyone else, her Cie'th clock was ticking down faster then everyone else. She often heard arguments of whither to flee or stay and defend their homes from the citizens, and wondered when it would escalate.

Some people had already begun to pack up and leave without a word, while another few had fallen deep into despair and ended their lives over the situation.

Yuel and her guardians hadn't been seen outside lately either. There was talk that they too had fled, but many assumed they were just discussing about what to do.

Lightning just sighed and shook her head at it all, amazed at how many people were losing it.

"I guess being able to see the future is a bad thing after all," Hope muttered.

"It really _can_ mess with peoples heads," Noel commented.

"Do you think we should leave?" Serah asked, worried about the twins more than anything else.

No one had pointed any fingers at them and accused them for bringing the catastrophe upon them like they might have thought, but rather the opposite. Some of the families that had fled already had warned them that they too should get out while they could, and were sorry that they couldn't figure out their focus while they were here.

"I think we need to face the obvious now," Lightning said catching their attention. "We need to kill Caius as soon as we have the chance now."

Noel stood up and glared at her, while Snow and Serah each picked up their children and took them upstairs to another room. They knew an argument between them was sure to come, and didn't want them to be woken up by it.

"But we know how he becomes immortal," he reminded her.

"Preventing now doesn't mean he won't try it later on Noel. Killing him will secure the time

line for sure."

"But we don't know if he has some important role in the time line! Killing him now may do more harm then good!"

"Well we can't just sit around and wait to see what happens forever Noel."

"And arguing is still not gonna solve things either." Zack added, causing him to receive a glare from Lightning.

The sudden commotion outside interrupted them, and they all fell silent. Cautiously the group walked out, curious to see what was going on. A crowd was gathered in the Square, where Yuel stood on a platform surrounded by her guardians. Whatever she had just told them had caused them to begin to argue with each other, and take sides.

"If Paddra is destined to fall for good then we should flee!"

"This is our home! We should stand and defend it!"

If Lightning had her gunblade she would've fired it into the air to get them all to shut up.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" Hope politely asked a citizen beside them who was not participating in all the shouting.

"The Seeress had a vision warning us that the city would be invaded," he said.

"This is ridiculous," Lightning muttered as she shook her head at the crowd.

_No wonder why the nation fell._

She was amazed at how people could panic about some sort of catastrophe so easily, like Cocoon's old fear of everything Pulse related, bringing on the Purge and it's eventual downfall. It seems history really did repeat itself...

Sighing, she raised her hand to the sky and cast thunder, silencing and startling the crowd as she caught their attention.

"What are you doing?" Noel whispered harshly to her.

"Be quiet and follow my lead," she whispered back.

All eyes on her, she calmly and quietly approached the platform and looked up at the Seeress.

"This may not be my home, but I am still a soldier. Should you chose to defend this place, I will fight with you, for this may be our focus."

Now seeing what Lightning was getting at, the rest of the group nodded in agreement when eyes turned to them. It was a smart move on her part. She saw Caius narrow his eyes down at her in full suspicion of her actions, but she ignored him. Yuel smiled and nodded, then turned back to face her citizens.

"I will not force anyone to chose, those who wish to leave have the right to do so, as do those who wish to stay and fight."

* * *

There were quite a few handfuls of people that chose to leave. There was some talk behind their backs that they were traitors or cowards, but no one seemed to care other than that. Things had changed in the past couple days. Since they were now expecting to be invaded, everyone was allowed to carry their weapons with them inside the city for self defense.

Lightning and the others were no exception to this, but Caius had warned her personally that he would be keeping a close eye on her if she tried anything fishy.

"Are you planning something Light?" Hope asked her as he followed her outside the city for some training.

"I just thought if Paddra was going to be invaded soon then that could be when he becomes immortal," she said.

Hope paled at the thought.

"Are you saying we're running out of time?"

She shrugged.

"I don't have all the answers, but if I'm right then we might be able to intervene a bit and buy us a bit more time."

"But wouldn't that be meddling with the time line then?"

"Look let's not talk about this right now," she said as she stepped away from him and drew her gunblade. "You need to be focused right now."

Nodding, Hope drew his own weapon and waited for Lightning to strike. She charged at him at once, and their blades clashed as he defended against her slashes. Knowing he couldn't be on the defense forever, he quickly reached into his bag and threw her boomerang at her. She dodged with ease, giving him an annoyed look, but then quickly realized it was nothing more than a distraction as he flipped his sword back into it's gun form and pointed it at her head. She blinked in surprise, not expecting it, but then smiled at him.

"Nice move," she said.

He smiled back as he lowered his weapon, glad she noticed he was still improving. He certainly had grown from the whiny scared kid she had first come to know.

"I still think you need to ditch that thing for good though," she added as he caught his boomerang.

He frowned and gave his fiancee his puppy dog eyes, which didn't have any effect on her. He was just so attached to his old weapon it was hard to let go of after all that he went through with it. It was like a kid and a favorite toy that was loved beyond belief.

"Well get to that later though," she said, taking her fighting stance once more.

Each round she went a bit harder on him, pushing him to his limits. Their magic had even come into play, for he needed to get the feel for it once more if he was going to need it in the upcoming battle. They both noticed out the corner of their eyes that Zack and Aerith had joined them in the area, Aerith collecting flowers and Zack silently watching them from the distance.

They opposed no distractions, so they both let them be. But before long Hope was completely worn out, panting heavily and sweating while Lightning was barely getting warmed up. He still had a lot more to go.

"You ready to call it a day?" she asked.

"Yes please," he said between breaths, at his limits.

Nodding, she glanced over at the deceased couple, wanting to talk to them for a bit.

"You go on and head back, I'll catch up later."

Nodding, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, making her blush slightly, then slowly walked back towards the city while Lightning approached the couple.

"Serah told me what you did for her." she told Aerith. "I just wanted to thank you for that."

"Oh you don't need to," Aerith said sweetly.

"But I do," she said. "I don't really know what I would've done if I had lost her, I probably would've ended up blaming myself..."

She heard Zack stifle a chuckle, and looked at him with folded arms.

"Something funny?"

"You just remind me so much of Cloud..." he said, chuckling a bit.

"You do!" Aerith agreed, noticing it as well.

She blinked in confusion, obviously knowing that they must be referring to someone they knew.

"Ok..." she said.

"He was a good friend of ours." Aerith explained.

"He unfortunately fell into depression after we died and blamed himself for our deaths."

"Oh thanks," she muttered sarcastically. "Compare me to an emo guy, that flatters me so much."

"He wasn't a bad guy though other than his frequent moodiness."

"Maybe you're a reincarnation of him." Aerith joked.

The couple giggled, agreeing with the idea, while Lightning just rolled her eyes.

"Cloud and Lightning, it _does_ make sense..." he said.

"Well thank you Aerith," Lightning said again, hoping to change the subject.

"Just don't go blaming yourself for things you can't help ok?" Zack said.

Nodding, she turned to leave. She really wasn't sure what to think of him. He reminded her of Snow, sometimes obnoxious, but at the same time he appeared to be far more mature than him. It was also obvious that he had been a soldier, and while she couldn't be certain she was sure that he had died on the battle field. It was because of that she had respect for him.

"Looks like there's a storm coming..." she said as she noticed the sky had darkened.

"Doesn't look to good that's for sure..." Zack muttered.

* * *

"You're sure about this?" Gorgyra asked the stranger.

"Yes, they'll attack from the west."

She frowned as she looked at him closely, still not sure if she should trust the man. He said he had come from a neighboring city to warn them of an attack. The news of Yuel's unfortunate vision had apparently spread like wild fire, and citizens all across the nation were planning to rise up against the Seeress. This man had apparently heard of their plans, and wanted to warn them so they could protect Yuel, as well as the civilians.

He didn't appear to be lying to her, but part of her mind was nagging at her not to believe him entirely. She trusted most of his words, but not all.

"Do you believe him?" Caius asked her with his arms folded.

"Yes." she answered.

_Better to be safe then sorry..._She thought.

Caius may have been Yuel's true guardian, but the Seeress was a dear friend to her. She would die if something terrible happened to her. She would protect her at all costs, and he hoped that one day she would be strong enough to surpass Caius' strength. One of these days she would challenge him to a duel, and if she won, then she would kill him and become the true guardian in his place, gaining the powers of chaos he currently possessed. It was a brutal tradition, but one that they followed.

"Thank you for the warning," Caius told him. "We will prepare to defend."

* * *

"What's going on?" Lightning asked no one in particular when she reentered the city with Zack and Aerith.

All around them people were moving in an organized chaos like fashion. Most of them were taking up their weapons and armor and moving towards the west gate, while mothers and those who either were not able to fight, or didn't want to seemed to be seeking shelter. It was clear that a battle was about to begin.

Not seeing Hope or the others, she quickly wormed away around the swarms of people back to the house they were staying in, hoping they were all there. They all flinched when she practically barged in, but relief quickly followed when they noticed it was just her, followed by Zack and Aerith.

"Where's Serah?" she asked when she noticed she and the twins were missing.

"She's safe with with the other families." Snow told her. "Nora, Claire, and Mog are all with her," he added.

"I'm going to go help her," Aerith said as she headed out the door.

"Do the rest of you have plans?" she asked.

"We were discussing it when you came in," Hope told her.

"Word out there is that we've all been warned we're going to be attacked from the west, but I don't think tip may be entire true," Noel explained.

"A distraction..." Zack muttered.

"Exactly."

"We were going to split up and cover the other areas just in case," Hope explained.

"Noel and I will take the east," Snow said as he pounded his fists together like he was ready to fight.

"I'll take the South then," Zack said before anyone else could speak.

"All on your own?" Noel asked. "Isn't that a little...Stupid?"

"I'm already dead," he reminded them.

"Right..." Noel muttered, forgetting that nothing terrible could really happen to him.

"You and I will take the North then Hope," Lightning told him. "We'll all head out when we're ready then."

* * *

Zack left without another word, simply just dematerialized before them and they assumed he would just rematerialize where he needed to be. Knowing he would be perfectly fine, the rest of the group began preparing for their own battles. Hope took a few minutes to gather up some potions, elixirs, and phoenix downs he had all bought a while back in the market place and rationed them out to everyone evenly, then like Noel and Lightning began checking to make sure his weapons were all ready to go, before taking a few deep breaths to calm himself for the up coming battle and nodding to Lightning that he was ready to go.

The couple left in silence, leaving Noel to hear Snow loudly pop his knuckles, neck, and anything else he felt like popping. Noel stared at him with a raised eyebrow, slightly disturbed and wierded out that it some how all seemed natural to him.

"You ready?" Noel asked him, hoping he was.

"Yep," Snow said energetically as he pounded his fists together once more. "Time for the hero to save the day!" he shouted, causing Noel to just roll his eyes.

Noel took the lead calmly, but naturally Snow kept popping his knuckles behind him as they walked in silence. Even when they researched the eastern outskirts, his annoying popping continued as they began cautiously scanning the area for any signs of attack from that end.

"Will you stop that?" Noel finally asked, getting rather annoyed. "Not only is that annoying, but it's really starting to freak me out!"

"Alright, shesh..."

Noel sighed as he turned away from him, glad to finally have peace and quiet for a moment. That moment was ruined when Snow purposely did one last pop right by Noel's ear. Noel flinched at it, and turned to glare at him.

"I'm done now," he assured him with a smile as he raised his hands.

Noel didn't say anything, but his eye twitched. Part of him wanted to yank his own hair out, while the other wanted to punch him. He guessed Lightning felt the same way most of the time about him too.

_What does Serah see in him? _He thought. _He's an obnoxious idiot... _

He didn't understand why Lightning allowed them to marry either.

_As long as Serah's happy it's ok... _He told himself before pushing those thought aside, knowing he had to be completely focused right now.

"Looks like there's no one around here," Snow said a few minutes later.

"It's to quiet..." Noel muttered.

As if on cue, an explosion sounded in the distance, not from their area, but from the north where Hope and Lightning were.

"We better go help them." Noel said before he took off in their direction.

Snow nodded, and was about to follow after him, but then something caught his eye on the horizon. His eyes narrowed, then he pounded his fists together, knowing he was going to fight. It had appeared that he had spoken a bit to soon...

* * *

The explosion had been a mere accident. They had been right about the tip being false, while they had no clue what was going on in the western part if anything, a battalion had come from the north in hopes to take the city by surprise. However they didn't expect Hope and Lightning to be waiting for them.

Hope had patiently waited on high ground for his moment to attack, boomerang in one hand and gunblade in the other. He was ready to use one, both, or his magic. Any one of them would do for him.

Lightning on the other hand boldly stood blocking the entrance to the city, while the battalion slowly and calmly approached her. Most of them raised eye brows at her, after all she was a lone woman standing guard with only one weapon in hand, so she shouldn't pose a threat. How wrong they were.

"Stand aside and we'll spare you," one man said.

"Make me," she challenged.

She roughly estimated about fifty people before her, a bit of a challenge, but nothing she and Hope couldn't handle with their l'Cie powers.

The man before her raised drew his sword, intending to take her down and get on with their part of the invasion, but he wasn't expecting Hope to intervene as well. Seeing it as his moment to strike, he quickly cast fira and threw it down at the man.

He stumbled back at the sudden burn, and with many others began looking around to see where the magic had come from. In their distraction, Lighting quickly summoned Odin in his gelstate form to aid her.

"Come on then!" she said as she sheathed her gunblade and began wielding Zansuken instead.

"She's a l'Cie!" someone shouted.

_And you won't get past me, _She thought.

All hell soon broke loose. Hope continued to cast his magic from above also summoning his Eidolon, Alexander, to help him. One of the invaders spotted him, and darted around his spells until he tossed a primitive bomb his way. Seeing it at once, Hope quickly sent a fire spell at it, causing the explosion that Noel and Snow both heard.

He flinched at it, but it still hadn't come close enough to harm him. Looking down, he saw that Lightning was winning. Having Odin had given her the upper hand of course, and as she slashed at her opponents mercilessly some had actually begin to back away. How wrong they had been about her, how humiliated they felt to be defeated by one person.

"Retreat!" One of them finally shouted.

No one seemed to argue. Those who had not been severely wounded or killed had turned and ran. Some paused to help carry the wounded or dead away, hoping they wouldn't be cut down while they did so. They spared them once the retreat was called, and they stood in silence. Lightning waited a few minutes to see if any of them would come back in case they were waiting for her to let her guard down, but no one did.

Deciding it was indeed over, she dismissed Odin, and went to join Hope. He was of course unscathed, but worn out from using all that magic, and simply resting on the ground.

"You ok?" he asked.

She nodded, and sat down beside him. She had gotten a few minor scratches and bruises, but was otherwise fine.

"You did good out there." she told him. "I'm proud of you."

Smiling at him, she gave him a quick kiss. As much as she wanted to calmly stay by his side and rest from their battle, she knew there was no time. They had to make sure everyone else was doing ok too after all.

"If they attacked from here they could've else where too," she said.

* * *

Upon catching a glimpse of the battalion retreating and Lightning with Odin was more than enough to assure Noel that she and Hope were alright. It was then when he noticed that Snow wasn't around, and that probably wasn't a good thing. Had he just run that much ahead of him and Snow had fallen behind, or had Snow been engaged in his own battle?

As much as he would like the first option to be true, he had a feeling it was the latter. Remembering how he tried taking on the giant flan all on his own, and getting pretty beat up because of it. The guy just didn't know when to call it quits...

He bit his lip, and decided to go back to look for him. As much as he didn't like him, he knew Serah would be heart broken if he got seriously hurt, or worse. He didn't want to see that, especially if it meant seeing her break down in tears...

As he began to turn back, something caught his eye that made him stop: A man sneaking around through the shadows, glancing around cautiously at every turn. It was obvious that he was up to something, that and he didn't belong. He hadn't seen Noel, for he was to far away to notice him.

Noel watched him with narrowed eyes, wondering if he was one of the invaders that had some how slipped through into the city. His eyes widened when he realized he was heading to the center of town, right towards the building Yuel was being protected. He was after the Seeress.

Snow forgotten about, Noel quickly ran after him, determined to stop him. He wasn't going to see another Yuel die again, not if he could do anything to stop it.

_This is how Caius felt..._He realized.

He had only seen a couple of Yuels die before him, and Caius had seen thousands. Maybe he wasn't insane, but just desperate to stop the endless cycle of pain.

Through the twists and turns of the city, Noel lost sight of him multiple times. He guessed that either he had noticed Noel's presence and was trying to lose him, or was lost himself in the unfamiliar city. Deciding that either way he had had enough chasing, he ditched the man and began heading straight to where Yuel was being kept. If he couldn't catch him, he could at least warn her guardians.

"What are you doing here?" Gorgyra demanded when she saw him quickly approach the building.

She stood outside on guard duty, so Noel guessed that Yuel was indeed inside.

"I saw someone suspicious coming this way," Noel quickly explained.

"What?"

They then both heard Yuel let out a terrified scream from inside. Gorgyra dashed inside, her sword in hand, while Noel quickly did the same. Yuel was on the floor, frozen with fear, and bleeding from a minor scratch on the shoulder. The man a Noel had scene sneaking around was in front of her holding a dagger stained with fresh blood, and yearning for more. The window behind them was open, and Noel guessed that's how he had gotten in behind their backs.

"You tricked me!" Gorgyra shouted as she charged at the man, for it was the same one that had warned her about the attack. It really had been a distraction after all.

Noel decided to let her take care of the intruder, and quickly ran over to Yuel.

"Are you alright?" he asked, relieved to see that her wound wasn't anything to worry about.

"Look out!" she said.

Looking behind him, he saw that Gorgyra had been momentarily knocked down, and now the man was going to strike him next to get to Yuel. Noel quickly raised his sword in defense to block the blow, but instead he ended up accidentally stabbing the man right through the chest. Noel froze at once, realizing what he had just done as his blood began to flow. Seeing it made Noel quickly pull away, taking his weapon out of him in the process.

He had hoped that the man would simply stumble back and some how recover, but he fell to the ground at once, eyes void of life, and a pool of blood slowly forming around him. Noel stared in horror as he slowly back away, his surroundings and everything else forgotten now. He had killed someone, he had ended the life of another human being.

Dropping his weapons and hearing them clang to the ground, he turned and ran, as if running away would make it all go away for good.

* * *

As Zack had predicted, handling the soldiers invading from the north end hadn't been a problem. Like Lightning and Hope, he had struck them, but tried to only wound them to avoid blood shed. He had killed enough when he was alive, to kill more when he was dead didn't seem right.

He had told them from the beginning that he would let them all walk away if they wanted to, but naturally they didn't listen, at least not until they all realized they were no match for him, but who would be? His last battle had been when he gone up against hundreds of ShinRa infantrymen, and had survived until the final three finished him off.

Compared to that, facing a few dozen that didn't have the modern weapons he was used to was nothing. Child's play even. In the end, most had chosen to retreat just like the battalion Hope and Lightning faced, and he let them.

He was glad, and he didn't sense that many souls fading into the life stream. However, something bothered him in the east. It was a feeling he didn't like, his old SOLDIER indicts telling him to go and check it out. Remembering that Snow and Noel were supposed to be in that area, he didn't waste time

rushing over there.

What he found made his eyes widen, and bring back the painful memory of his own death. While the other areas had been attacked, the invasion had been focused on the east, not the west. While he, Hope and Lightning just had to defend against a few dozen, Snow had to so the same against a couple hundred, and alone too.

He wondered where Noel was and why he wasn't fighting beside him, but since he didn't see him among the dead and wounded along the battleground he put that thought aside.

"Get out of here!" he told Snow as he drew his buster sword, ready to take his place and finish the rest of them off.

_Aerith I need you! _He telepathically shouted, knowing she would hear him. _Snow's hurt!_

Snow was taking a pretty bad beating. He had various cuts and bruises all over him, and was panting heavily as he tried to keep up against the army.

"I'm not done yet..." Snow muttered softly.

"Yes you are," Zack said as he shoved him back as he walked in front of him.

He caught Aerith materializing out of the corner of his eye, and glanced at her briefly.

"Get him out of here," he said.

Nodding, she helped Snow back to his feet and away from the battle without any further protests. Zack couldn't help glaring at him, but he would deal with him and his carelessness later. Turning back to the half beaten army before them, he placed his sword on his fore head for just a moment.

"Never forget your SOLDIER honor..." he recited to himself before charging at them at full speed, memories flashing back to him as he did so. "Come and get it!" he told them.

He still tried to have mercy on them, slashing at them only to wound and not kill, but with more numbers coming at him then his previous battle he couldn't get around the unwanted bloodshed. His energy was almost completely drained by the time they were all down for the count, some for good while others would survive.

He sighed as he put his sword away, then looked down at himself noticing he was beginning to flicker between materializing and dissolving into the lifestream. It had definitely worn him out, that much was now obvious.

Not looking around at the state of the battleground, he made his way back into the outskirts of the city, where Aerith had just finished healing Snow.

"You ok?" Snow asked him, seeing his flicking state.

Zack didn't answer as he approached him, but when he stood up he couldn't help punching him in the face. The blow knocked him down, and caused him to look up at him rather surprised at his action. Sure he was used to Lightning pulling that sort of thing on him, but Zack?

"What the hell were you thinking taking on that many alone?!" Zack shouted. "That was a death sentence!"

"I don't go down that easy," Snow told him as he got back up. "Heroes don't die."

His last comment hit a spot in Zack that earned him another punch, this time a bit harder.

"Heroes always die!" Zack shouted as he picked him back up by shirt. "If I hadn't shown up when I did Serah would be alone, and your children would grow up without a father." With that he let him go, and began to walk away. "Remember that before you risk your life like that again."

His words left Snow in silence. He was right, he knew he was, he just didn't want to admit it. Noel had yelled at him before as well, but at the time he had just ignored him.

"Zack died in battle didn't he?" he asked Aerith softly.

She nodded silently.

"He went up against more than you did all on his own..." she muttered.

He was a bit surprised to hear that, but at the same time he realized that it was why he seemed to take his actions so personally.

"I guess I should go apologize..." he said

* * *

"We probably saved a lot of lives today..." Lightning muttered as she and Hope walked around to see what the overall damage was.

They had been attacked from the west, but as predicted it had just been a distraction to cover the attacks from the other sides. Their main focus had been from the east, but thankfully Zack had taken care of that. If it weren't for them the streets would have been invaded. Who knows what would've happened after that.

"Do you think we changed the future because of this though?" Hope asked.

As he spoke Lightning spotted Yuel and Caius calmly walking towards them. She tensed a bit, but kept her cool as she tried to relax. Hope noticed them after a moment, and paled a bit. Neither one of them had a good feeling about this.

"Yes?" Lightning asked them calmly.

"I would like to thank you for defending our city," Yuel began while Caius silently stood by her side. "Especially one of you in particular, I believe his name is Noel."

Hearing her mention Noel made them both raise their eyebrows in question.

"He saved my life," she explained. "I would like to thank him personally."

"Well send him your way when we see him," Hope said.

"Thank you," she said gratefully with a slight bow.

As she and Caius walked away, Lightning caught a worried and anxious look on Yuel's face. She also had noticed a small bandage on her shoulder, and wondered what exactly had happened.

"Noel was supposed to be with Snow..." she muttered as she and Hope continued walking back to the house they were staying in to meet back up with the others.

"Think they're both ok?"

She didn't answer, but when they entered she saw that everyone was there and seemed perfectly fine...Everyone but Noel. Snow seemed a little scratched and bruised up while Serah and Aerith were taking care of the twins, and Zack appeared to be taking a nap.

"Is Noel here?" Hope asked.

"No..." Serah said a bit worriedly.

"I haven't seen him since we got separated in battle..." Snow added.

"I'll go look for him," Zack said as he hoped up from his resting place on the bed, clearly not asleep like they thought.

"If you don't rest soon you won't be able to stay materialized much longer," Aerith warned him.

"I'll rest when I get back," he assured her before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Then he glanced at Snow before he began walking out the door.

"And I'll talk to you later," he said only loud enough for the two of them to hear.

Lightning however caught his words, and couldn't help narrowing her eyes at her guilty looking brother in law. She had no idea what happened, but she had a feeling it had to something with him doing something rather stupid.

* * *

Noel hadn't stopped running until he ran out of breath and had to stop. By then, he had left the city behind, and had fled into wilds of the Yaschas Massif. It was then when he realized that dropping his swords like that hadn't been a smart move, but at the moment he didn't care.

His hands were still trembling as he finally sat down on the grass. The moment he had killed that man kept playing over and over in his mind, haunting him. Did he have family? Friends? Children of his own? How many people would mourn his death? What if had an important role to play in the time line?

"I'm sorry..." he muttered to himself as the tears began to fall.

He wondered if his soul was in the lifestream like Zack and Aerith had talked about. Had he already faded, or was he invisibly watching Noel, cursing and hating him for ending his life.

What would the people of his time think? Killing a man was simply unheard of then, after all there were only a few handfuls of people left in the world. Life truly was sacred to them, he would have been shunned for the rest of his life because of his actions.

"I'm so sorry..." he apologized again, hoping, wishing that he could hear him.

He never wanted to lift his sword against another person ever again...

His thoughts and tears were suddenly interrupted by a wave of pain that shot through him. He flinched and rubbed his head, feeling the worst head ache he had yet.

_Not now..._

Thepain was unbearable. His vision began to blur, and he collapsed onto the ground, suddenly feeling light headed. It had never been this bad before. Groaning as he blinked a few times, waiting and hoping it would pass, he looked at his hands and suddenly gasped as he eyes widened.

"It can't be..." he muttered.

But it made sense, the headaches, the pain, feeling weak ever since he had defeated Caius, and most importantly, his missing memories when he and Serah had began to change the time line.

_"You're not even supposed to exist!" _

That had to been what Lightning was going to say when she had yelled at him. It all made sense now, and seeing himself flicker between solid and transparent was proof.

He and Serah had changed the future, and now he wasn't supposed to exist anymore because of it.

_**Author's Notes**_

Don't hate me! *ducks under table* I mean I HAVE been implying this for a while now...As for the wait, sorry *sweatdrop* But I hope the length makes up for it a bit...

Next chapter has been started, but right now I mainly gotta get my XIII-2 Lightning cosplay done by...Thursday _ DAMN YOU PROCRASTINATION! T_T *Sighs* So much for getting shit done over the summer -_-

Oh and as for the Lightning and Cloud joke, I just couldn't resist XD We all know its true *cough, she's Cloud in drag! Cough*


	12. XI Forgiveness and Trust

_**XI Forgiveness and Trust**_

Noel was just about to slip into unconscious when Zack found him. He heard him call out his name in alarm, and felt his arms around him as he gently pulled him up, then his pain slowly began to fade away as his energy seemed to come back. He saw a warm glow of green light, and guessed that he had transferred his energy to him like he did with Mog once before.

"Stay with me Noel," he said.

"I think I'm ok now..." he muttered as he slowly sat up and rubbed his head.

His headache was still there faintly, but other than that he felt fine. He looked down at his hands as he flexed his fingers, both feeling and looking solid again.

"I'm not supposed to exist am I?" he asked softly, even though he knew the answer already.

"You come from a future that no longer exists, so no..." Zack answered him sadly.

Noel sighed as he wrapped his arms around himself and stared down at the grass. He couldn't believe he didn't see it coming before. He had been so worried about Serah sharing Yuel's fate when they had been changing the future he didn't even think about what consequences it could have on himself.

Now it made sense to him why he hadn't been made a l'Cie like the others. He guessed that Serah had been spared from that fate too because Etro thought she had suffered enough already.

"So what's going to happen to me then?" he asked. "Will I just disappear into nothingness?"

"To be honest neither me or Aerith could tell you for sure, but you're alive now, and all living things return to the lifestream."

Noel nodded silently. He didn't know much about the lifestream, but it sounded like a decent ending for him when he disappeared for good. It was inevitable, so why try to deny his fate? Serah had been prepared to die if it meant changing the future for the better, so he wouldn't mind being gone either.

"Thanks for finding me..."

Zack had saved his life for the time being, he was sure if he hadn't found him right then. He was sure he would have finished fading if he hadn't. He was just postponing his fate, but he appropriated it. He now knew his time was limited, so he would make it count.

"Why'd you run out here all alone anyway?"

Noel stiffened, his emotional pain coming back to him as Zack reminded him of what he had done. Zack frowned, clearly noticing he was more than a little shaken up about something.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Noel suddenly poured everything out about what happened. Following the man he saw sneaking around, trying to protect Yuel from him, and then unexpectedly killing him in the end.

"I didn't mean it!" he said as the tears began to fall.

"I know," Zack said sympathy as he place a hand on his shoulder. "It was an accident."

"For all I know I could've altered the time line now!"

"I don't think so, Gorgyra probably would've stepped in and killed him a few moments later."

Noel nodded, seeing the logic in his words, but even so the guilt was still there. His hands still trembled.

"I know how you feel," Zack said as he gently placed his hands over Noel's trembling ones. "The first kill is always the hardest..."

"You were a soldier like Lightning right?" he asked.

Zack nodded, and Noel understood. Every soldier had to kill at some point, kill or be killed, that's how it was.

"How do you live with the guilt of killing someone?"

Zack frowned and his eyes softened a bit, but he answered Noel's question.

"For a while, it still bothered me. I went home hating what I did, but I reminded myself that I had signed up for military life. With time, you just learn not to think about it."

Noel nodded, but didn't understand how he could _not_ think about killing that man right now. Plus if he just tried to stay focused on the task of changing the future, he would be reminded about himself being erased from existence. Where ever he turned his thoughts wouldn't do him any good.

"Were you ever afraid of dying?" he asked Zack.

"It was so long ago I can't really remember," he admitted. "But I do remember that I was afraid of seeing the people I was responsible for killing, that they would find me and blame me for their deaths."

"Did they?"

He shook his head.

"Thankfully they had already faded into the lifestream when I crossed over."

"Then if I do end up in the lifestream I would fade too then," Noel guessed.

"Yeah, but some of your consciousness should remain."

Noel nodded. He would be ok with that, it was better than fading into nothing at all...

"Sorry, but it looks like I have to go for a bit," Zack said, looking down at his flickering materialized state.

"Are you ok?" he asked, a bit alarmed.

"I'll be fine," Zack said with a smile as he began to fade back into the lifestream. "Just need to rest for a little while."

Noel silently watched as Zack disappeared, leaving him alone once more. Sighing, he slowly got to his feet. Now wasn't the time for him to mourn in guilt or worry about his own fate. Right now he would just have to try and make the most of the time he had left, as well as talk to Lightning. She had obviously known of his fate, yet didn't tell him. He wanted to know why.

* * *

Shortly after Zack had gone to look for Noel, Lightning told the others she was going out for a walk. It was partially true, but she wasn't planning to have a nice calm stroll like everyone assumed. She had watched the time line while she was in Valhalla for those couple of years, and she remembered what had happened to the guardian named Gorgyra.

The woman had actually asked to become a Cie'th as her atonement for her mistake of almost getting the Seeress killed, Yuel's telling her and Hope that Noel had saved her life had made her remember that.

She could only imagine the pain she suffered all those centuries as she wondered the Yaschas Massif until Serah and Noel had found her and ended it. It was something she couldn't ignore, no one should have to go through that. She would find her, and strike her down as a Cie'th before she had to bear all that pain and suffering.

As she calmly strolled through out the city, she caught a couple whispers from people saying that Gorgyra had been killed in battle, and was no more. That was her clue that she had already become a Cie'th, and that's what the people had been told about her.

So she quietly strolled out of Paddra, catching sight of Noel coming back in on her way out.

"Yuel wants to see you," she told him as she walked past him.

"I need to talk to you."

"When I get back, I need to do something," she said without stopping.

He didn't stop her, so she kept moving forward.

She wandered along the Yaschas Massif gunblade in hand, looking for any sight of the Cie'th she sought, and cutting down any monsters that got in her way in the process. It was almost night fall when she finally came across it wandering about, and as planned she struck it down quickly and efficiently. Since she had just become a Cie'th, it opposed no challenge to her.

"Rest peacefully now," she said as she sheathed her weapon and turned to go back. However, just as she took another step a wave of pain shot through her. She gasped, feeling most of it where her brand was. Looking down at it, she saw it change rapidly until the eye was almost all the way open. It was in the last stage before she would turn into a Cie'th herself, her time was running out.

_But why? _She thought as she fought to ignore the pain and stay conscious.

She had plenty of time before, why would it suddenly change on her like that? It didn't make any sense.

_Unless..._

Unless she had unknowingly effected the time line by defending the city and ending Gorgyra's life as Cie'th. Maybe that _had_ been when Caius was supposed to "die" and receive the heart of chaos, and Gorgyra was _supposed_ to spend centuries wandering and suffering as a Cie'th. This was the consequence for changing those events.

* * *

"Lightning's still not back yet..." Hope muttered as he noticed it was now dark.

"You don't think something happened to her do you?" Serah asked worriedly as she put the twins down for bed.

"This is Lightning we're talking about though," Noel reminded them. "If trouble came her way she could handle it."

"Unlike some people," Zack muttered glancing his way over at Snow.

Only Snow heard him. He frowned a bit, then sighed and motioned to the ghost to talk to him in the other room.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he said when they were alone. "You were completely right about what you said back there, I was an idiot, and didn't think of what would happen if I..."

He couldn't finish. He _didn't_ want to think about what would've happened if he really did die back there.

"I hope you've learned your lesson then," Zack said, his arms folded.

"Yeah. I won't do anything rash or stupid like that again. I've got a family that needs me now like you said."

"A family that I could never have," Zack told him. "You remember that."

Snow nodded, then both of them heard the front door open, followed by Serah gasp.

"Lightning!"

Both of them returned to the main room at once to see what was going on, and saw Caius standing in the doorway carrying an unconscious Lightning in his arms.

"Someone found her a few miles outside the city," he explained.

Hope stepped forward to take Lightning into his own arms, worry and concern written all over his face. Caius handed her over to him, then took a step back, nodded, and left with out another word. Hope gently placed her on the bed, then glanced at her brand.

"She's running out of time, and fast too," he said.

He and Snow both glanced down at their own brands to see if they were the same, but they each still had some time; the eye hadn't even opened half way.

"But why?" Serah asked. "Why her and not you two?"

"She was branded before us..." Hope muttered, brushing his fiancee's hair out of her face.

"Her brand never went away after she saved you..." Snow finished, glancing down.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, trying not to raise her voice so she didn't wake the kids.

They were all to preoccupied to notice Noel quietly slip out of the house. If Lightning truly was short on time like they said, then he knew what he had to do. It was something that he wouldn't like to do, but it had fallen on his shoulders now.

Glancing around, he caught sight of Caius and quickly caught up to him.

"Caius Ballad," he said sternly, catching his attention.

"Yes?" he asked, turning towards him.

"I challenge you to a duel."

Caius blinked, not expecting something like that from him in the least. However, he remembered that earlier when Noel and came to see Yuel and get his swords back, she had given him a kiss on the cheek as her thanks for saving him. He had blushed and muttered that there was no need for her thanks before he left. Maybe he had grown some kind of attachment to the Seeress, and thus now wanted to become her guardian.

"Very well then, I accept your challenge," he said, reaching for Ragnarok.

Noel nodded, then drew his swords.

_I don't wanna kill you Caius, but I have to._

_**Author's Notes**_

Again, sorry about the wait there. Good news is the rest of this is already written out so unless some serious shit happens my normal weekly updates will continue.


	13. XII Change the Future

_**XII Change the Future**_

The battle was almost to easy for Noel. He knew Caius' style of fighting all to well now. He could predict his moves and dodge them, then counter attack right after. He could tell that Caius certainly didn't expect it, and became desperate to win. His attacks and slashes with Ragnarok became more viscous, and faster, but Noel was desperate as well. If he didn't win then not only would Lightning would become a Cie'th, but he would die.

He was more determined than Caius, because to him it wasn'tjust another duel. Noel saw that Caius was beginning to wear out, and looked for an opening to strike. He saw it when Caius raised Ragnarok to slash it down at him. He dodged and watched as it slammed into the ground beside him instead. Before Caius could recover, he quickly slashed at him with both blades. One across his chest, slicing through his leather armor, but only barely scratching his skin, while the other scratched across hand causing him to drop his weapon.

He fell to one knee, and Noel kicked Ragnarok away before he could attempt to reach it, and pointed his blade towards his throat. Caius glared up at him, but then soften a moment later acknowledging his defeat.

"End it," he said. "You won, take my place as the true guardian over Yuel."

He closed his eyes once he finished speaking, while Noel slowly raised his sword to deliver the final blow. If he killed him them the time line would permanently change for the better. Caius would no longer want to kill the Goddess, and he and Serah wouldn't have their journey across time. He would meet her or Yuel, and he would cease to exist. He wouldn't just be ending the life of his friend, but his own as well. He froze at the last moment, seeing the memory of the man he killed in self defense flash before him.

_"The first kill's always the hardest...With time, you just learn not to think about _it"

He couldn't do it, even if he had the will to his arm wouldn't obey.

"I can't..." he whispered as his weapons clang to the ground and he fell to his knees. "I just can't..." He was almost in tears.

He saw Caius open his eyes and glance at him, but before he could speak a gun shot ran out, and a bullet appeared in his fore head. Noel gasped as he saw his friend fall back in shock, and spun around to see Lightning**–**who was being supported by Hope**–**behind them holding her gunblade.

"I appreciate you trying Noel, but I said you wouldn't have to kill him," she said.

Not sure what to say, he just stood up and watched Caius dissolve into the lifestream. Walking over to Ragnarok, he picked it up and placed it in the ground where Caius had faded away. Hearing more footsteps approach, he turned around once more and saw that the rest of the group had joined them.

"It's done," Noel muttered.

Snow, Hope and Lightning all checked their brands, glad that they had all disappeared as well.

"The Goddess should be safe now," Lightning said.

"And time will be back to normal, Kupo."

"We'll continue to keep an eye on things from above," Zack told them as he and Aerith began to fade. "I'll let you guys know if anything starts acting up again or something."

"Take care you two," Snow said as he fist bumped Zack right before he vanished entirely.

"Whoa," Hope commented as he and Snow became transparent next.

"Here we go again..." Snow muttered.

"We'll be alright." Lightning assured Hope as she took his hand while she began to fade as well.

The three of them all vanished at once, quickly followed by Mog and the twins left in Serah's arms. It was then when the aching pain from a headache, followed by a wave of tiredness hit Noel at once. He looked down and saw that he too had become transparent, and knew that unlike everyone else this would be his final moments of existence.

"This is goodbye...isn't it?" Serah asked as she walked towards him. "Our journey will never happen now, so...We'll never meet..."

"Yeah..."

_But I won't exist either..._

He realized she probably hadn't figured that part out, and if that truly was the case he didn't want to break it to her now. At the same time, he knew that this was indeed his final moments of life, there was one thing he wanted to tell her.

Glad that Snow wasn't around, he quickly stepped forward and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened in shock, too surprised by his action to pull away.

"I love you Serah," he whispered as he gently hugged her.

Once he felt himself begin to pass right through her, no longer solid, he pulled away and took a couple steps back.

"I'm glad I got to spend time with you, I don't care what happens to me now..." he said.

"Noel..."she whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she put everything together.

"Don't cry," he told her. "I don't want to see you cry..."

Dizziness came over him, and he collapsed on the ground as he began to flicker to nothingness.

"Noel!" Serah shouted rather alarmed as she ran to his side.

"I'll be ok..." He tried to assure her as he fought against the pain. "And you will too, Snow's a good match for you."

"But I don't want you to go like this!" she said, tears falling now. "I don't want you to leave me!"

"It's ok," he said again. "I think, part of me always knew this would happen to me..."

He closed his eyes, feeling to tired to keep them open anymore.

"Goodbye Serah..."he said again.

"NO!" she shouted. "Don't leave me!"

But he was already gone...

_**Author's Notes**_

Yes I know I'm a big evil meanie for what I did, but at least you can't say you didn't see this one coming!...That probably made it worse though didn't it? -_- Well, onto the last two chapters! I updated early because It's short and I've been torturing you for a while...I'll probably update in a couple days again if you want.


	14. XIII A Hopeful Future

_**XIII A Hopeful Future**_

With Caius dead, the tragedy of him trying to destroy time and the future was averted, and time returned to normal. Paddra fell, just as history said it would, and the remaining farseers still became wandering nomads. However, Etro wanted to prevent a guardian like Caius from suffering into insanity and then acting on it the way he did.

Yuel, having seen what would have become of the world if Caius hadn't been stopped, pleaded to the goddess that the line of Seeress' would end so that it wouldn't happen again. Understanding her reason, Etro granted her wish. That Yuel had been the last, and her and all of those before her could finally rest in peace.

Aerith, witnessing it all from the lifestream offered to take Yuel's place as a Seeress, while Zack of course would be her eternal guardian. The Goddess hesitated at their request, fearing that seeing Cetra in pain and repeat her death after every vision would drive Zack to repeat what Caius had done. Deciding there was no more need for a Seeress, she denied their request.

* * *

Lightning gasped quietly as she opened her eyes and awoke out of her crystallized state. She blinked a few times, then glanced up and saw the Cocoon being held up by the crystal pillar close by. She smiled, now knowing for sure that they had been successful in restoring the true time line.

"It's really over then," Snow commented beside her.

She nodded, and looked around for Hope and Sazh, and saw them beside her as well. It was just like before, but how long had they been asleep? They then saw Serah and Dajh walking towards them from the pillar. Once Serah saw them, she pointed it out to Dajh, and they both quickened their pace into a run.

Sazh ran to his son immediately, while Snow did the same for Serah. She smiled as they embraced happily, having the strong feeling of de ja vu. She then turned to Hope, who looked bothered by something.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he said softly.

She could tell he was lying, and that something was on his mind, but couldn't say anything more because Serah and Snow had come back to them.

"I missed you," Serah said as she hugged her older sister.

Lightning blinked a few times, wondering what she had meant. They had just been together, so why would she say that? Something was wrong...

"Everything's ok now," she told her.

* * *

It soon became apparent that Serah actually didn't remember anything at all since the time she had crystallized.

The group began building the village that would soon be named New Bodhum, and Serah asked what all happened when she was asleep. They told her what had happened to make Cocoon fall, but mentioned nothing about their time traveling journey.

"I just don't understanding why she doesn't remember any of that, yet the rest of us do," Snow told Lightning when they were paroling the outskirts of the village one night.

"Maybe it's for the best," she said. "She's lost the twins right now," she reminded him. "As well as Noel..."

Snow nodded, glancing down.

"It would be painful for her to remember then..." he said.

She nodded.

"It could've been Etro's doing, or maybe her mind just blocked it all out," she guessed.

* * *

"Something just doesn't feel right..." Serah told her sister on her wedding day.

Lightning blinked in confusion, then finished zipping up Serah's dress.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Are you worried that you won't be happy with Snow?"

"No it's not that," Serah said as she tied her hair into a tight bun before putting on her veil. "It's just...This day is supposed to be perfect, and it is, but at the same time it feels like someone's missing..."

Lightning frowned, remembering Noel had been there for the wedding last time. Everything else was the same. Serah's dress was a long simple silk strapless dress, with a thin layer of transparent fabric that sparkled in the light over it. Lightning was her maid of honor, and also the one who would walk her down the aisle.

She had once again been forced to wear a slim fitting spaghetti strap dress that matched her hair color, while Lebreau wore the same to be Serah's bridesmaid. If Vanille had been awake, she would have been one too.

Naturally everyone else in NORA were Snow's groomsmen, while young Dahj was the ring bearer. Sazh and Hope were attending too, as well as their other friends in the village. It was all exactly the same, but Noel was no more...

"Does that make sense to you?" Serah asked.

It was apparent to Lightning that subconsciously, Serah knew who Noel was, and that he was gone. She didn't want to see her younger sister hurt, so she decided to lie.

"I think you're just a bit nervous," she told her as she helped her adjust her veil.

There was a knock at the door, and Hope poked his head inside the room.

"Snow wants to know if everything's ok, I think he's getting a bit impatient." he told them.

"I'm just about ready," Serah told him as she made her way to the bathroom, muttering that of course she had to pee _after _she got dressed.

Nodding, Hope watched her leave the room, then looked at Lightning. He quietly stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him.

"Something wrong?" she asked, still not used to seeing him fourteen years old again, and in a suit of all things.

"It's just..." he began, lowering his eyes to the floor. "We'll we can't be together for at least another four years now..."

Now she understood what had been on his mind since they had woken up–again.

"I'll wait for you," she told him.

"Really?" he asked as he looked up at her.

She nodded with a smile.

"You searched for me for over ten years Hope, in comparison four doesn't sound that bad."

He nodded, looking down once more as he blushed a bit.

"You still joining The Academy?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I wanna help make some preparations to make another Cocoon again, should it be destined to fall still. That and try to safely get Fang and Vanille out of the pillar."

"We'll just wait a while, and I'll be by your side to protect you," she told him.

"I'm ready sis," Serah said as she poked her head back in the room.

"I'll be out in a second," Lightning told her.

Nodding, Serah headed outside, where everyone else was waiting. Turning back to Hope, she smiled, then gently kissed him on the forehead.

"I wouldn't mind having that ring again in a few years," she told him happily as she too went outside.

_**Author's Notes**_

So yeah, XIII-2 NEVER FUCKING HAPPENED HERE! As I believe it should have been. Basically this fic was my way of ranting about that awful ending, and I'm updating today because I'm pissed about this whole "Lightning Returns" shit. It sounds awful! I expected XIII-2 to be a train wreck and I got a car crash, but THIS sounds like a train wreck that's going to explode in the middle of town in rush hour or something!

**UGH! THANKS FOR RUINING MY BIRTHDAY SQUARE! -_-**


	15. Epilogue: 700 AF

_**Epilogue: 700 AF**_

Noel Kriess couldn't help wandering about in New Academia in awe. The city was massive, and the technology amazing, but since he had grown up in a small village on Pulse and not on Bhunivelze like most people these days it would seem fascinating to him.

He was eighteen, fresh out of school, and ready to go out and be on his own in the world. He had came to New Academia because he read everything there was out there on the history of it. As he continued to wander through the streets, he eventually came to a square in the vast city. In the center, there were large dark gray stone statues on a circular marble platform. Like the other people in the area, Noel stopped to take a look at them, smiling when he recognized them all.

There was Hope Estheim, once a young director of The Academy, and the one that worked feverishly to create and raise Bhunivelze into the sky. It had originally just been a safety measure in case the crystal pillar would one day become unstable and cause Cocoon to come crashing down on Pulse. Back in the day, most people thought it was pointless, why would the pillar suddenly crumble? The Academy had gone through the project anyway, slowly developing it over the centuries, then finally completing it in 500AF right before Cocoon really did fall.

He always thought it was a little sad that the man had never been able to see the results of the project he began, but as he looked up at the statue of him portrayed in his twenties in full Academy uniform, he was glad that Hope was being honored in a way.

Smiling at it, he looked to the left of Hope's statue, to see his wife standing beside him. Lightning had supposedly been her name, but Noel had also read that it hadn't been the name she had been born to. What her birth name had been was long lost now, for only a few people had known it. Looking at her statue, and back to Hope, he couldn't actually picture them together, even though they were calmly holding hands.

In all the things he had read Lightning had been a strong, and often cold warrior. Hope had been kind and sensitive. How had they made it work? He was also so much younger than her too...

Their relationship had apparently been private. Other than having raising a son and daughter, not much else was known. Lightning did seem like a private person so he supposed it did make sense that history hadn't recorded much, but a soldier with a scientist? Her statue even had her in her Guardian Corps uniform, and a cold firm look on her face. Definitely the look the solider.

Shrugging and moving on, he slowly walked around the platform taking a look at the other statues. There was Sazh Katzroy, Oerba Dia Vanille, and Oerba Yun Fang. He hadn't done as much reading on those three as he had the others. Sazh had continued his career as an airship pilot and raising his son Dajh, with Vanille and Fang's crystals had been safely pulled out the crystal pillar right before it collapsed, and they had awoken shortly afterwords. Both of them had gone back to live on Pulse after that, but like Lightning and Hope's private life, not much was known about them otherwise.

Then there were the last two: Snow Villiers and his wife Serah, who had also been Lightning's little sister. They were both smiling happily, Snow with his arm around his wife while she gently rested her head on his shoulder. They had both lived normal happy lives as well, Serah as a school teacher, and Snow...Well he hadn't cared enough about Snow to read about him at all. He wasn't really sure why, there was just something about him that he didn't like.

Snow and Serah had been a happy couple. Married until their old age finally came and took them, but before then they had a big happy family. Two twin girls if he recalled correctly, as well as two sons and another daughter through out their early years.

These had all been the people that had saved Cocoon not only once, but thanks to Hope twice. "The Six and the One" they had been called, a bunch of unexpected and unlikely heroes in history. They all deserved to be remembered and honored with these statues of them.

However Noel was interested in them for an entirely different reason: His dreams. Ever since he was a child, he had usual and unexplainable surrounding four of the heroes, but mainly Serah. They were always blurry, like fogged up memories of the past. Him meeting Lightning in a shining silver suit of armor in a strange and deserted city, him saving Serah from some monsters in the small fresh village of New Bodhum, the two of them embarking on a strange and mystical journey, and encountering Hope, Snow and Lightning a few times along the way.

He had never told anyone about his dreams, and even to him they didn't make any sense. They had started long before he learned anything about them, that's why he became so interested in them all in the first place. All the reading and research he did over the years didn't give him any answers or clues at all...

He sighed to himself as he continued to look at Serah's statue. In his dreams, as well as all the old pictures he had seen of her in books he always thought she was beautiful. She came across as sweet and caring, the girl that everyone wanted to be friends with or date. Sometimes he felt pretty stupid, having a little crush on a woman that was long gone, but in his dreams it was like they knew each other, like they _had_ been friends...

"They're beautiful aren't they?" someone next to him commented, making him flinch.

He turned to the voice, and saw a young couple standing beside him. The woman had her long brown hair in a twisted braid, with a faded light pink ribbon in her hair matching her light pink dress under her short sleeved red jacket. The man next to her had spiky raven black hair, that went well with his outfit consisting of the same color.

"They are," he answered with a smile.

The woman smiled back at him, then lifted the little brown basket in her hand.

"Would you like one?" she said, showing him her basket of flowers. "They're only a Gil."

"Sure," he said, seeing the flowers reminding him of his home on Pulse.

He dug around in his pockets for some loose change, then handed her a Gil before she kindly handed him one of her white dandelions.

"Thank you," she said, her smile beaming at him for a moment before she turned back to her boyfriend and put her arm around his.

He nodded and watched them both silently walk away. They too, had looked and sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't recall seeing them in any of his dreams. He sighed again, then glanced back up at the statues one last time before walking away himself. They were just dreams after all, he wasn't going to let them bother him the rest of his life.

* * *

"It really did end well for everyone," Aerith said to Zack as they walked away from Noel.

He wasn't the Noel they had known, but at the same time he was. Same face, same voice, same name, but a different past, and different memories. However, they were both certain they had the same soul, that it hadn't disappeared into nothingness or the lifestream. Noel had been reborn into another, happier life. It was the same time, but a different future, one that he unknowingly made possible.

"It did," he agreed with her, kissing her on the cheek as they began to fade back into Pulse's lifestream.

As promised, they had both watched over everyone and kept out for any sign of trouble. None came, and they were all able to live out the rest of their lives in peace and happiness.

Zack had also come to realize that even though he and Aerith hadn't been able to live out their lives like everyone else, it too had ended well for them. Their love had followed them to their afterlife, and remained strong through out the centuries. They would always have each other, no matter what.

It truly was a happy ending for everyone.

_~FIN~_

_**Author's Notes**_

__I meant to put this up over the weekend but I forgot _ Anyway, so there, nice happy wrapped up ending (How it should have stayed in the first place -_-). So that's the end of this fic, **NO SEQUELS _BUT_ **I have both planned and started a couple more VII and XIII/XIII-2 crossovers (most of them in the VII verse) that aren't related to this one or each other. When I have time I'm also going to replay Crisis Core so I can get my inspiration for more just VII stuff too.

So that's that, **PLEASE **comment and tell me what you thought overall now. Loved it? Hated it? Could've been better? Want to see more crossovers? XD**  
**


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